Spectator sports, not bets
Hainan, an island province at the southern tip of China, is planning to introduce sports tourism attractions such as horse racing, auto racing, water sports and beach sports, the Hainan Daily reported. But an anonymous source told the newspaper that plan will not include gaming, as some observers had thought.
According to the Asia Times, the National Development and Reform Commission will reveal more details of the plan sometime this year.
The Xinhua Finance Agency reported that unlike Hong Kong, the local government of Hainan will present horse racing as a pure spectator sports with no betting. It also plans to build a national sports and tourism demonstration zone.
More than 76 million tourists visited Hainan in 2018, generating a total of 9.5 billion yuan ($US1.4 billion).
