Economic reforms in China’s agricultural sector initiated in the late 1970s led to rapid
structural change in China’s pork sector. Swine production units have declined in number but
increased in size. Using household survey data from seven provinces in China, feed-grain
demand by pork producers is estimated for three different size categories: producers with annual
pork output of less than 200 kg, between 200 kg and 500 kg, and greater than 500 kg. The results
show that the households slaughtering one or two pigs each year are not market-oriented in their
pork production. However, households producing more than 200 kg are quite price-responsive,
especially households slaughtering more than five or six hogs each year. Wald tests for structural
change indicate there is significant structural change as producers increase their scale of
production and rely more heavily on markets for feed inputs.