体坛英语新闻：The new silk route, for horses, from Rotterdam to Shanghai

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The 69th edition of one of the most prestigious equestrian events in Europe takes place in Rotterdam from June 22 until June 25, with the organizers already dreaming of such an event in China, one of the promised lands in the horse world.

One horse rider walking hand in hand with his child, another on a bicycle and one other relaxing on a steady ride on his brown horse, at the same time chatting with a friend on his mobile phone. It is not the scenery you would expect a few hours before one the most prestigious horse competitions in the world, but it is the scenery of the CHIO. It is the most prestigious equestrian event in the Netherlands, and after Aachen the second biggest in Europe. With a long history going back to 1948, CHIO Rotterdam is the oldest international sport event in Rotterdam.

"The CHIO is about more than sports," explained Jan de Mooij, the chief operating officer of CHIO Rotterdam, to Xinhua.

In the beautiful green environment of the Kralingse Bos, a wooded park that surrounds the Kralingse Plas lake, the best jumping horses and the best riders from Europe competed against each other on Friday as part of an FEI Nations Cup Jumping qualifier in the top European division. In this competition national teams, and in this case the Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, competed for one of the most coveted prizes in this Olympic discipline.

The FEI Nations Cup Jumping is equestrian sport's oldest and most prestigious team challenge, with a history dating back to 1909, and one of the biggest showpieces of the international equestrian federation, the FEI. A record number of 50 teams from across the globe, from two European divisions, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East are competing in the series this year. The final will be held in Barcelona for the 5th consecutive time, at the end of September 2017.

China is missing on the list. The Asian giant is not an equestrian giant just yet. A Chinese jumping star in the Nations Cup has not yet arisen, unlike in eventing, where Alex Hua Tian, born in London to a Chinese father and British mother entered the spotlight as China's first Olympic equestrian athlete in Beijing. In Rio, he placed eighth out of 25 athletes and is now targeting Tokyo 2020.

"This could happen to a jumping rider as well," said Ralph Straus, commercial director of the FEI, to Xinhua. "I think it is possible to have a Chinese jumper at the Olympics in a few years. That would accelerate the development of horse sports in China, because jumping is the most popular of horse disciplines."

"In a few years we will see the first Chinese jumper in the Kralingse Bos," said De Mooij. "Now they already jump over 1.40 meter but in a few years they will also jump over 1.60 meter."

Dutch national team coach Rob Ehrens added: "The level is growing all over the world. I think we will see a Chinese jumper at this CHIO level in a few years."

The Nations Cup Jumping competition in Rotterdam is one of the eight division one venues from the European series. Italy won the two previous events at home in Rome and then in St Gallen, Switzerland. While in equestrian sport teams like the United States, Germany, France and The Netherlands normally top the tables, the competition is really starting to open up with other nations putting in stellar performances. Wins from teams which previously struggled to be competitive at the top levels of jumping are a positive sign for the future of the sport. In Rotterdam Sweden took the first prize, before Switzerland and Italy. It also gives a country like China perspective.

The Chinese riders are not yet present, but they have found the way to Dutch horses already. "Per year 14,000 Dutch horses are being moved to China," reacted De Mooij. "That means 300 big planes per year filled with horses. All bred in the Netherlands. Dutch horses are held in high esteem all over the world. But it is not only the horse. We have so much know-how. We have to guide this process well, with trainers, instructors."

The choice for the Dutch horse is not strange. The Netherlands have a large history in horse sports. There are 450,000 horses in the country and the Dutch horse industry contains 10,000 equestrian companies and a total turnover of 2 million euros, figures by the Dutch equestrian federation KNHS say. "The Dutch horses are known to be willing, fearless, physically and mentally strong, and bred to perform at the highest level," according to a statement by the organization behind the breeding of Dutch horses, the KWPN. "The combination of sport aptitude and an uncomplicated temperament make these horses unique and very popular at all levels of equestrian sport and breeding."

The quality of the Dutch horses is visible in the results, like on the latest Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Although the Dutch riders did not obtain any medals for the first time since 1988, the Dutch horses were able to do so. In virtually every discipline the Dutch horses played an important role. In dressage Dutch horses even contributed to every color team medal.

FEI figures show that people in China are very much interested in equestrian, with 235 million of the total of 753 million equestrian fans around the world being from China.

"It is an important market with a lot of potential fans," reacted Dutchman Straus, commercial director of the FEI since November 2015. "A real growth market. We are in close cooperation with the Chinese equestrian federation to further develop the sport, to make it more professional and to develop Chinese riders. China now has the FEI World Cup Jumping China League as a qualifier for the FEI World Cup Jumping Final. In this league Chinese athletes do beat European athletes which is helping Chinese fans to get behind their local heroes. But we want to have more events in China."

The global format of the Nations Cup means that more countries and regions can host qualifiers at world-class venues, but China is not one of them just yet. However, according to Straus, it will not take long until China organizes a Nations Cup event.

"Maybe we can organize the Final in China in a few years," he said. "It would give an enormous boost to horse sports in China. There is no better way to promote our sport. People in China have to get the possibility to experience it, to feel it, to get the emotion."

However, organizing such an event in China requires considerable preparation in terms of logistics and transport. Staging an international FEI event requires more than just enthusiasm for the sports, as became clear before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The equestrian events were held in Hong Kong, because strict quarantine measures for horses were better established and were likely to result in fewer problems with equine disease than in the Chinese mainland.

"It is a challenge," admits Straus. "Logistically, transport and in terms of quarantine measures." The FEI is working closely with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to make horse movement easier around the world to help the growth of equestrian sport.

Dutch team captain Rob Ehrens, a former jumping rider, would love to manage his team in a Chinese competition. "I have not done this myself, but it would be good to have a nations event there," he told Xinhua. " There are nations competitions all over the world, so why not there? Logistics and transport should not be a problem anymore. It is just about good planning. It would be good for horse sports."

Despite the absence in the arena China is not absent at all in Rotterdam. The theme of this year's CHIO is the 'New Silk Route', referring to the ancient network of trade routes connecting the East and West. The goal is to connect businesses and people, from Rotterdam via Dubai and Oman to Shanghai. The port of Rotterdam has warm ties with these big port cities, where horse riding is on the rise. The CHIO is not only about sports, as De Mooij already said, it is about networking, with for instance several Chinese businesses present. Among the 50,000 spectators over four days in Rotterdam there are around 30,000 VIPs.

"The people here not only come here to watch horses," explained De Mooij. "They come here to network and to do business as well. The economic value of sports has become more and more important. With 753 million fans, 37 million riders, 400,000 jobs, 750 million followers through social media and a global economic impact of 300 billion euros our sport has a lot of opportunities. The Dutch horse industry is larger than our flower bulbs industry or our milk industry. Equestrian sports will become bigger than football. That will be the new reality."

"For Sunday we have scheduled a China executive lunch again, for the fourth time," De Mooij added. "We, as CHIO, will announce that we will start an equestrian mission to China, from October 16 to 21. In cooperation with the city of Rotterdam, the horse breeding organization KWPN and more. We want to cooperate with China and we can teach the Chinese about saddles, nutrition, stabling, competition surfaces and horse care."

"We also want to start a World Harbor League," De Mooij continued. "With events in Shanghai, St Petersburg, Rio de Janeiro. Team Rio vs Team Shanghai. China has the largest ports in the world, so more cities can join. We can move the CHIO to Shanghai, with local partners. The world's best come to Rotterdam, but if we export the brand CHIO they can also come to China."