BEIJING, July 26 (Reuters) - China has released meat from reserves to help areas suffering from disastrous flooding, a senior commerce official said, but Beijing would set a high bar before beginning broader sales to quell high pork prices.

More than 500 people have been killed since the summer floods started with crops destroyed and livestock dying across vast swathes of the country.

"Some parts of the country have suffered from serious floods, and pork supplies were tight, so after the Commerce Ministry discussed with other relevant government departments, we decided to use the meat reserve," Fang Aiqing, the head of market operation department, told a news conference on Wednesday.

But the ministry would be cautious before releasing meat for the purpose of easing pork prices, which peaked in May and again in early July, Fang said in remarks carried on the central government Web site on Thursday.

Widespread disease, higher feed costs and farmers' reluctance to raise pigs after poor profits last year have pushed pork prices in China to multi-year highs, driving inflation to the upper end of the government's target range.

The ministry would consider the income of pig farmers, and the purchasing ability of common people before intervening in the market. Government officials had earlier said the meat reserve stood ready to be used to ease prices.

Pig deaths from blue ear disease spiked in June, exceeding the total deaths in the previous five months of 2007, but have fallen so far in July, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday.

The disease, formally known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), killed at least 1 million pigs in a nationwide outbreak that began in May of last year, officials estimate.

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