Global Champions Tour has announced that its first-ever event in Asia will go ahead in April 2013 in the magnificent city of Shanghai, China, at the China Pavilion in Shanghai’s World Expo Park. [See video below]
GCT and their Chinese partners decided this week to move GCT Shanghai to 2013 due to the formal finalisation of the quarantine procedures. The decision is also made to ensure riders to have advance notice to re-arrange their busy schedules.
GCT will reveal the full GCT 2013 calendar – which will be the 8th year of the world’s premier show jumping circuit – later this season.
GCT President Jan Tops said: “Everyone in the Shanghai Government and our local organisers and partners have been working very hard in a great spirit of co-operation to get the event organised. Shanghai will be a fantastic fixture on the GCT calendar next year and I look forward to announcing full details later in the season. It is of course essential that all aspects of quarantine are in order and these complex discussions take time. I hope the negotiations will be finalised in the next few months.”
“Global Champions Tour has expanded since 2006 from Europe to include venues in the Middle East and we are delighted to be working with the Chinese Government to bring GCT to Asia and I thank them for all their enthusiasm and support in bringing the highest level of international show jumping to the continent.”
This unique outdoor show jumping event will take place next to the China Pavilion, a stunning national venue also known as the “Oriental Crown”, which was built for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. Show jumping is taking off in China, where talented riders are emerging. Shanghai promises to be one of the most sensational destinations in next year’s Global Champions Tour series joining prestigious venues across Europe and the Middle East.
The outdoor show will present a beautiful spectacle of show jumping at night where the audience will be able to see the leading international riders and horses in a festival of top-level equestrian sport. The extraordinary pace of economic growth in China has fuelled increasing interest in elite sports like show jumping, which go hand in hand with the world of luxury and elegance. Since the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, equestrianism has become a passion for more and more Chinese people, who appreciate its long heritage linked to several Chinese dynasties and the dynamism of the modern sport of show jumping.
Shanghai is one of the world’s most dynamic cities and has been dubbed the “Paris of the East”. The number of Equestrian Clubs in China is increasing dramatically with the main clubs in Shanghai, Beijing and Guanghzhou.
