China Jockey Club launched

The China Jockey Club was launched Monday in Beijing, in a bid to promote horse racing in the world's most populous country.

The new organization will seek to cooperate with its European counterparts to help expand horseback riding in China, and supervise a State-sanctioned lottery that will be tied to horse races, according to organizers.

The first horse racing event held under the club's auspices is scheduled to take place in Shanghai in July.