Fourteen racing horses from Hong Kong Jockey Club, after undergoing procedures of Guangzhou Customs, arrived at a horse training ground in Conghua district for long term stay and training on June 12.

The arrival of the horses marked the official implementation of a new pattern for cross-border horse transferring, which is a breakthrough event for the cooperation of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Transported by two special carrier vehicles, the horses arrived in Conghua through Shenzhen Huanggang Checkpoint at 10:38 and 12:00, after leaving Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong at 06:30.

A photo of the house ranch in Conghua district, Guangzhou. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The vehicles passed through an automatic sterilization instrument and entered a special area where customs officers and vets provided the horses with comprehensive clinical examinations one by one. Then the horses entered the Conghua house ranch through special quarantine channels.

"This is a historic moment for Hong Kong Jockey Club as the operation of Conghua horse ranch's quarantine facilities has passed the check of Guangzhou Customs. Thank you for all for the support from government departments from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong," said Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chief Executive Officer of The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Guangzhou Customs has been vigorously promoting the integration of inspection and quarantine between Guangdong and Hong Kong, scientifically constructing the customs clearance process for cross-border horses' shipment between Guangdong and Hong Kong. The customs clearance time for house transporting has been drastically shortened, laying a solid foundation for smooth operation of the Guangzhou house ranch project. In addition, it will also provide valuable experience in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the innovative regionalization of animal cross-border quarantine.

A transporting vehicle undergoes a sterilization process. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The new model of cross-border mobile quarantine of the racing horses marked the innovation and process reengineering of the customs quarantine supervision model and was a successful attempt in exploring the integration of customs clearance in Guangdong and Hong Kong. The new model has achieved three major innovations including "one approval and many round-trips" which significantly simplified the approval process and "full-time isolation and deployment on demand" with which the customs can fully grasp the health status of horses in the ranch and can arrange quarantine and permit release according to the transportation plan of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Customs officers and vets examine the racing horses. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Guangzhou house ranch project is a key component of Guangdong-Hong Kong cooperation. After the Guangzhou horse ranch is fully operational, four round-trips will be carried out each week and each trip will transport 45 horses between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. In addition to major events such as horse racing carnivals, there will be more than 20,000 horses in and out of the Guangzhou house ranch.