Plan to allow horse racing and gambling in Hainan stalls yet again
- Province’s deputy governor cites ‘complications’ in saying the sport’s planned development in the free-trade zone won’t happen this year
- Speculation that the province would be given special privileges to experiment with racing and the associated wagering business had raised investors’ hopes
Hainan, China’s latest free-trade zone, will not introduce its plan to develop horse racing on the island this year because of “complications”, the province’s deputy governor told the .
“Horse racing in Hainan is not gambling. Our bottom line is that Hainan will not allow [criminal activities] involving prostitution, gambling or drugs,” Mao Chaofeng, a deputy governor of Hainan province, said on Saturday as he attended Beijing’s annual parliamentary sessions, the National People’s Congress, as a delegate. “Any person who sees our plan to develop horse racing as a kind of gambling is totally mistaken.”
“My understanding is that we have not yet begun planning for horse racing,” Mao said, effectively rejecting the possibility of a release of guidelines on the development of the sport, which was suggested by the province’s official newspaper, less than two months ago.
Although the Chinese government does not consider lotteries to be a form of gambling, other forms of wagering are illegal on the mainland, and casinos are banned. The possibility of allowing betting on horse racing on Hainan would be the first of its kind.
Asked several times if the guidelines would be released within the year, Mao said: “No, they will not.”
“It is a complicated matter requiring a lot of research and study,” he added.
