Aniek van Santvoort at CHF Shanghai 2024

Q: How long have you been active in China and how did it start?

A: Our stable was founded in 1991 and since 2008 we specialized in the export of horses to Asia and mainly to China. We started with the export of a couple of horses and now we have monthly flights to China with horses from our stable.

Q: What are your current activities in China? 

A: We make sure the horses we export to China have passed all the necessary quarantine and health checks and have the required documentation for entry into China. We can also provide new horse owners with additional services e.g. it can be arranged for one of our grooms, trainers or riders to stay with the horse for a certain period after purchase and help the new owners with the appropriate horse care and training.

Alongside this we also want to use our experience to educate the Chinese equestrian market on a wide range of horse matters. Recently we also created the possibility to import Dutch horse feed (by Horsefood the best!) to China.

Q: How has China's equestrian industry changed over recent years and what excites you about the future?

A: After the Covid pandemic it took a while for the export market to return to normal. Luckily we can now export horses without restrictions and invite Chinese clients to Holland to view horses at our stable. The health tests for horses are now stricter than it was before.

We are very excited to now include social media channels such as TikTok to our services, so hopefully it will become easier to show horses to the Chinese Market. In the future we also hope to develop an online auction for the Chinese Market.

Q: What advice would you give to international suppliers looking to enter the Chinese market?

A: We advise any new international company looking to do business in China, to surround yourself with trustworthy local parties who can help you with the language barriers and the Chinese regulations. Plan to take your time to get results as there are a lot of steps involved before doing business successfully in China.

Q: What are you hoping to achieve by exhibiting at China Horse Fair Shanghai 2025?

A: We look forward to meeting new customers and maybe make some new collaborations to help the equestrian market continue to develop in China. It is always a pleasure coming to these events and also to share our knowledge.

Dutch Horses/Horses China/Gerdine Hoeve exhibited at CHF Shanghai 2024