China's equestrian industry faces big hurdles

By Natalie Thomas
March 19, 2014 3:49 AM

By Natalie Thomas
BEIJING (Reuters) - Sima Ming is a horse breeder's dream. One of China's growing ranks of newly minted millionaires, he has a passion for horses and the bank balance to fund this expensive pastime.
"Sitting atop an animal that's so much bigger and faster than you is a great feeling," said Sima, a dressage enthusiast who keeps eight horses.
Sima, who made his money in construction, does not know how much he's spent on his horses. But with just one of his three imported Portuguese stallions having cost around 400,000 yuan ($65,000), the investment is more than small change.
As in other countries, horse ownership in China is not just about the joys of galloping through fields, it's about status.
"Some people buy cars, some people buy yachts or expensive jewellery," Sima said. "Often it's all about satisfying a different kind of demand, a psychological desire. Horses are the same. There are many people who buy horses and then never ride them."
China's equestrian industry has gone from being nearly non-existent 30 years ago to more than 300 clubs and 25 race tracks, according to the China Horse Industry Association, an official body tasked with coordinating the sector's development.
But for Shi Zheng, the Chinese representative of a French horse-breeding region, getting people like Sima to sign a deal is no easy task. He's up against the agents of at least eight other regions fighting to get China's horse lovers to buy.
"Everyone thinks because Chinese people are very rich they'll buy anything," said Shi, voicing doubts about the strength of demand.
Two or three years ago it was easier to sell horses in China, he said, but "now the market is already confirmed".
A BIG BET
While many in China's equestrian world see interest slowly increasing, serious hurdles to development include prohibitive costs, export curbs and, most importantly, a ban on gambling.
Raena Leung, the Germany-based winner of last year's Chinese show-jumping cup league, sees the potential and the limits.
"There is certainly a demand for horses in China but it's not as big as people think, because there are only a handful of people riding at the top level," said Leung, who is often approached by European industry insiders eyeing China.
To some, it is more about playing the long game in hopes that gambling on horse racing, by far the most lucrative element of the equestrian industry, may some day be legalized.
Many look to the success of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which had a turnover of HK$94 billion ($12.1 billion) in the 2012/13 financial year.
"You can imagine the potential will be huge for a country with a population the size of China," Philippe Germond, chief executive of the Paris-based betting operator PMU, said in an interview with the China Daily newspaper.
"The people of France spend more than 9 billion euros on betting on horse races a year. That's a country with only about 60 million inhabitants."
But without the gambling, attempts to introduce racing into China over the past 10 years have foundered.
The most recent plan, to build a $1.7-billion Equine Culture City in Tianjin, a coastal hub south of Beijing, has fallen behind schedule with the club having to hold its inaugural race in Inner Mongolia last autumn. Equine Culture City representatives declined to be interviewed.
Even the man who says he wrote the business plan for the development has doubts.
"At the very beginning I thought it wasn't very plausible," said Wu Zhala, an entrepreneur who runs a national equestrian website. "I'm not very clear what the real business model is. Gambling is forbidden. Tickets and sponsorship are very poor."
But many still hold out hope that China's legislators will have a change of heart about betting.
"This is the aim for the horse industry," said Shi, the breeder's representative. "We don't have other ways to get lots of money from this." ($1=6.1502 Chinese Yuan) ($1=7.7657 Hong Kong Dollars)
(Editing by John O'Callaghan and Clarence Fernandez)

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中国马术业遭遇巨大障碍
路透社消息——司马明现在的生活是一个养马人的梦想。作为中国新近崛起的百万富翁之一，他热爱马匹，同时也拥有足够的存款来支持这一昂贵的消遣。  
“骑在一个动物之上，它的体型比你大、速度比你快，这种感觉太妙了，”司马明说。他是一名马术爱好者，自家养了八匹马。
　起家于建筑行业的司马明在马身上花的钱已经不计其数。不过，他很清楚仅仅那三匹葡萄牙血统马就已经花了他人民币40万元(合6.5万美元)了，这项投资绝对不是用零花钱就能满足的。
　与其他国家一样，中国的马匹所有者并不只是为了追求在原野中飞驰的乐趣，也是为了显示其尊贵的地位。
“有些人买车、有些人买游艇，或者还有些人买昂贵的珠宝，”司马明说。“通常，这些都是为了满足人们另一种需求，也叫心理欲望。买马也是一个概念。很多人自己买了马，但却从来不骑。”
30年前，中国马术业几乎是从零开始，而根据负责协调该行业发展的官方机构——中国马业协会的资料显示：中国现在已拥有300多家俱乐部和25个赛马场了。
但是对于法国马匹繁殖区的中方代表施政，找到像司马明这样的人达成购买协议可不是件简单的事。他要面对其他八个以上马匹繁殖区的销售代理，他们都在争夺中国的客户资源。
“每个人都在想，因为中国人非常富有，所以他们会买任何东西，”施说，但他表示对国内的购买需求量表示怀疑。
两三年前，在中国出售马匹很容易，他说，但是“现在这个市场已经饱和了”。
一个大赌注
然而，中国骑马者中有许多人都会看到，人们对马术运动的兴趣并没有明显提高，中国马术遭遇了严峻的障碍，其原因包括成本高昂，出口限制，还有最重要的一点，就是中国禁止赌博。
去年国际马联场地障碍世界杯中国联赛的冠军，现居德国的梁巧玲看出了中国马术业的潜力和局限。
“在中国确实有一定的马匹需求量，但并不像人们想象得那么大，因为中国名流中懂得骑马的也仅仅是那么一小撮，”梁说。她身边经常接触欧洲马术业的业内人士，大家都在观望中国市场。
对有些人来说，马术比赛是一场冗长的比赛，它更大的意义在于人们可以通过它来参与赌马，这是目前马术业最赚钱的一个行当了。他们希望有一天，赌马能合法化。
许多人都注意到了香港赛马会的成功案例，它2012/13年的营业额达到了940亿港元(合121亿美元)。
“可以想象，人口众多的中国将具有怎样巨大的潜力，”总部位于巴黎的博彩运营商PMU公司的首席执行官菲利普·詹迈廷(Philippe Germond)在接受中国日报采访时说道。
“法国人每年花在赌马上的前有90多亿欧元。但它只是一个拥有6000万居民的国家。”
　然而由于不能开展赌博行业，在过去10年里，人们试图把赛马运动引入中国的计划不得不以失败告终了。
　目前最新的计划是在北京南部的沿海交通枢纽——天津斥资17亿美元建一个“马文化城”，但这个计划也已落于人后，某俱乐部去年秋天就在内蒙古举办了其首场马术比赛。马文化城的代表拒绝接受采访。
　甚至声称撰写了这份马术发展商业计划的人都产生了怀疑。
“我一开始就觉得这有点悬，”运营中国国家马术网站的网站创始人乌扎拉说。“我不是非常清楚，真正的商业模式是怎样的。赌博是被禁止的，那么观众和赞助就十分有限。”
　而还是有许多人抱有一线希望，希望中国的立法者有一天能改变赌博的核心概念。
“这是马术业的目标，”马匹繁育代表施说。“我们没有其它途径从马术行业中赚到钱。”

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我还是不理解为啥开放了赌博，速度赛马之外的其他马术项目也会得到发展？有啥必然关系么？速度赛马的大老板们必须赞助障碍、舞步、三项赛等？

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我还是不理解为啥开放了赌博，速度赛马之外的其他马术项目也会得到发展？有啥必然关系么？速度赛马的大老板 ...[/quote]
退役赛马给马术用?  当然整体马业会发展,带动马术.

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退役赛马给马术用?  当然整体马业会发展,带动马术.[/quote]
。。。。这个支持方式太初级了。速度赛马并不天然适合奥运会那几个项目，还是要经过大力的改造。且仅仅是解决没马的问题。这个不是高水平马术用马的基本来源。

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。。。。这个支持方式太初级了。速度赛马并不天然适合奥运会那几个项目，还是要经过大力的改造。且仅仅是 ...[/quote]
是啊是啊, 开个玩笑啦.  应该是说对形成马产业链有好处吧, 比如促进饲养, 医疗, 从业人员基数和经验,  等等等等, 这样马术也就相应获益. 当然退役纯血马经过很好地训练调教还是能出好的马术用马的. 澳洲就是这样, 有专门的骑手对退役纯血马进行训练, 也有出成绩成为奥运用马的.

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