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won 3 bronze medals in the 6th INAS-FID Athletics World Championships; the 5th INAS-FID Table Tennis World Championships in Japan, where Hong Kong won 3 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals.

Hong Kong athletes also established the best record in the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in China. A total of 181 medals, with 75 gold, 59 silver and 47 bronze were won by the intellectually disabled athletes during the year.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has become one of the world's largest and most respected racing organisations. It is Hong Kong's only authorised operator of horse racing, managing racecourses at Happy Valley and Sha Tin as well as three public riding schools. The club also operates the Mark Six lottery and offers betting on overseas football matches.

The club is Hong Kong's largest single taxpayer, contributing $12.64 billion to the public purse in the 2006-07, or about 8.2 per cent of all taxes collected during the year. It is also one of the city's largest employers, with over 24 000 full- and part- time staff.

In addition, the club is a major community benefactor, operating under a unique, not-for-profit business model, with its surpluses giving to charity. In 2006-07 it donated $1.05 billion to some 107 local charity and community projects through the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

The club works closely with the Government to promote responsible gambling policies and to tackle illegal betting. A package of reforms to the horse race betting duty structure, endorsed by the Legislative Council in 2006, has given the club more flexibility to respond to changing market conditions and regain revenue from illegal bookmakers. These reforms helped the club to increase turnover by 6.6 per cent in 2006-07, correcting a 10-year decline trend.

As well as addressing current and longer-term community needs through its donations, the club is committed to corporate social responsibility in its own operations. In November, it announced an innovative proposal to establish a new telebet centre-cum-volunteers and training centre at Tin Shui Wai in response to growing public concern about employment and social problems there, and the Government's call for the business community to work together to set up social enterprises.

This initiative will not only create 2 500 new jobs in the district, but also enable new recruits to receive training in customer service skills and benefit from the club's Corporate Wellness Programme, which helps employees lead a healthy and balanced life. In addition, the club will set up a base there for its CARE@hkjc employee volunteer team to encourage new staff to take up volunteer work. In this way, it is hoped that residents will form new community networks and become self-sustaining.

The club's experience in running equestrian events and its world-class facilities, especially in the areas of equine healthcare and import and export protocols, played

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