（ECNS）-- Southern China's Hainan Province has halted surging applications for horse racing businesses to prevent speculative investment and a market bubble.
The island province has reportedly allowed horse racing as part of efforts to build China’s biggest pilot free-trade port. Sensing fresh opportunity， some companies have rushed to apply for business registrations.
The province’s industry and commercial authorities announced they will no longer register business applications if a company’s name or business scope includes words like "horse-racing，" "racecours," or "jockey club."
China’s State Council so far only outlines a general policy guideline regarding horse racing， with few details provided， said insiders. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has also urged listed companies to refrain from marketing hype when it comes to horse racing.
Developing horse racing is not an effort to legalize gambling， so it's necessary to prevent investment of a speculative nature， said an opinion piece on China Newsweek. In its development， Hainan has had setbacks including property bubbles， in 1988 and 2010 respectively， and car smuggling， so authorities today need to learn lessons from the past， according to the report.
The opinion piece said Hainan also needs to be aware of speculative investment in property and horse racing.
The central government's support to nurture horse racing， as well as beach and water sports， is aimed at turning the island into a hot spot for sports tourism and further China’s opening-up in the face of rising global trade protectionism.
Hainan's new development can also advance regional economic integration and promote the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road， but any ideas of making huge fortunes overnight or hyping the horse-racing concept must be guarded against.
