Beijing closes 321 pig farms in 2017

BEIJING -- Beijing shut down 321 pig farms last year to clean the environment and save water.

The Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing Sunday said the city produced 2.42 million hogs for slaughter in 2017, down 12.1 percent year on year.

The city has banned pig farming in regions totalling more than 5,200 square kilometers, nearly one third of the city's whole area, near major drinking water sources, key infrastructures and densely populated areas.

Rising costs and falling pork prices were also factors behind some of the closures.

The city has also chosen more than 20 pig farms to promote the use of waste-processing and water-saving technologies.