"China is still lagging behind when it comes to breeding high-quality horses… Purebreds used in equestrian sports are seen as leisure horses. Their breeding base is very weak so they are mostly imported from other countries," Sinogene deputy CEO Zhao Jianping told Sputnik.
"With cloning, we can create a genetic carbon copy with all of the donor's qualities," he explained.
The seven-month foal is named Zhuang Zhuang (Stout). It was born from a surrogate mare at Sinogene's Beijing lab in June of last year. The cloned stallion, Ursus, was imported from Germany where it won numerous prizes. Although both are black, Ursus and its progeny have slight differences in the coat color.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports lifted the ban on cloned horses competing at events in 2012. The first country to successfully clone a horse was Italy, which trailblazed a path for purebred cloning in 2003.