China has set up a project that will also study the origins of the virus and the way that it spreads, the ministry said in a statement published on its website.

China has reported around 100 cases of the highly-contagious disease since the first outbreak in the country was confirmed in northeastern Liaoning province in early August 2018.

African swine fever does not harm humans but is deadly to pigs and there is no cure.

Researchers in other countries are also working on a vaccine against the disease but have been hindered by gaps in knowledge on the virus and the variation of strains.

China said it would work on a so-called 'live' vaccine.

As reported by Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton, Reuters