Smart pig farm raises bar for pork breeders

The first construction phase of a smart pig farm owned by New Hope Group, one of China's biggest pork breeders, was completed recently in Beijing's Pinggu district. 

The company's chairman, Liu Yonghao, who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said on Wednesday that the company will focus on village development and swine breeding this year. 

"The smart pig farm in Pinggu is equipped with temperature-checking robots, along with systems for automatic feeding and disinfection. Disinfecting raises the safety of the pigs and helps avoid outbreaks of African swine fever," Liu said. "The equipment points to the development direction of the smart agricultural industry."

The company said the smart pig farm takes up an area of 140,000 square meters and has an annual production capacity of 120,000 pigs — the largest so far in Beijing.

Construction of the second phase of the farm is underway and is expected to be completed during the second half of this year.