Mane event provides boost for Shanghai

As one of the top show jumping competitions in China, the Shanghai Longines Global Champions Tour will include some of the sport's global elite this weekend.

The fifth edition of Shanghai showcase, a CSI level-5 event sanctioned by international governing body FEI, is the third stop on the 17-leg Longines Global Champions Tour and will feature 60 top riders, including world No 2 Harrie Smolders (Netherlands), No 4 Kevin Staut (France) and No 5 Simon Delestre (France).

However, ensuring the safe arrival of their mounts is no easy job, with a total of 100 horses being airlifted in three separate shipments.

The first batch of 45 arrived on Sunday, and with the horses' health and safety paramount, the plane was staffed with a veterinarian, specialists and grooms.

After landing, the horses were shipped to a quarantine area near the iconic China Arts Museum in Shanghai with the help of the local customs administration.

Such a smooth operation would have been unimaginable years ago because of regulation problems, but after the success of the Shanghai event and the development of the sport here in recent years, China has become a much more equestrian-friendly nation.

Further proof of the sport's growing stature here is Shanghai hosting the Sino-Europe Equine Industry Exchange Seminar on Thursday, when experts, manufacturers and suppliers from around the world will discuss how to create a booming Chinese equine industry.

The seminar will also aim to strengthen ties between the Chinese and European equine industries.

In the wake of Chinese rider Alex Hua Tian's eighth-place finish in eventing at the 2016 Rio Olympics, China has stepped up efforts to host more international events.

Also, investment in the equine industry is increasing in China, and more parents are encouraging their children to join riding clubs.

The number of clubs increased to 1,452 by the end of 2017, according to data from the annual China Horse Fair, and club memberships now total around 972,000－an increase of 68 percent over 2016.