This “piggy bank” consists of both live animals and frozen meat, according to the two ministries that manage it, but its size is a state secret. Mr Rice doubts it will have any real impact other than burnishing the government's credentials in tackling the crisis. “They describe it as though they have pigs buried underground, like oil in wells,” he says. “It is not really a true reserve.”

  负责此事的两个部委表示，这种“猪肉储备”由活猪和冷冻猪肉两部分组成，但其规模属于国家机密。赖斯质疑，除美化政府处理该危机的可信度以外，该措施是否会产生任何实际效果。“他们对这种储备的描述，好像他们有猪埋在地下，就像石井里的石油一样，”他表示。“这并不是真正的储备。”

  With China consuming about 130,000 tonnes of pork a day, 30,000 tonnes will have little impact in any case. Anecdotal evidence from farmers also suggests that restocking will not be fast.

  中国每天的猪肉消费量约为13万吨，因此无论怎么看，3万吨储备所能产生的影响将非常有限。来自农民的坊间证据也表明，重建猪肉库存不会那么快。

  Li Yongqiang, who has raised pigs on the outskirts of Beijing for 19 years, says the wild price fluctuations for pork are making small farm operators cautious. Mr Li lost nearly half of his 4,000 pigs to blue-ear but says the high prices for the sows he needs to replace them make for a very risky investment. “It will take me about a year to get the new pigs to market, but most farmers have no idea what the price will be then,” he says. “Raising pigs is just like the stock market. If the prices are high, you will sell, but if they are low, you are stuck with them.”

  李永强（音译）已经在北京郊区养猪19年。他表示，猪肉价格大幅波动令小型养猪场场主更为谨慎。由于蓝耳病，李永强饲养的4000头猪损失近半，但他表示，为弥补这些损失而购进的母猪价格颇高，使这成为一笔风险很高的投资。“这些猪从新买饲养到屠宰，我要用一年左右的时间，而多数农户不知道到时候价格会怎样，”他表示。“养猪就好像炒股。如果价格高，你卖出；但如果价格低，你就被套牢了。”

  The government's rapid reaction, perhaps even overreaction, to combating price rises is already infecting broader economic policy. The central bank has lifted interest rates five times this year to try to keep prices in check. In recent days, the government has frozen all state-controlled prices, including those for fuel and electricity, in an effort to quarantine the impact of the food increases.

  为阻止猪肉涨价，政府迅速做出反应，或许甚至有些反应过度，这已对更广泛的经济政策产生了影响。中国央行今年已5次上调利率，试图控制物价。近来，中国政府已冻结了所有国家控制的价格，包括汽油价格和电价，旨在避免食品涨价的影响。

  Both moves have potentially damaging consequences for key areas of economic policy. The rate rises will provide an extra incentive for capital inflows, according to economists, at a time when the central bank is already managing the monetary impact of trade surpluses of about $25bn (£12bn, €18bn) a month.
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