A dinner reception and conference was held on April 24th, 2008 at the Li Du Hotel, in Beijing, hosted by the National General Kennel Club, to officially announce the NGKC/AKC Global Services project. The response to this invitation was so great that it had to be limited to the legal capacity of the venue. It was attended by 167 invited guests representing 73 kennel clubs, 5 animal clinics, 10 TV, Internet and Press members, and 8 NGKC sponsors.

Guest speakers were Mr. Robin Stansell, VP/Event Operations, AKC, Mr. Shi Zhaoxin, President & Founder, NGKC, Mr. Wang Wu, VP/CEO, NGKC, and by Mr. Theo Vavas, VP/COO, NGKC. A number of kennel club officials also took to the podium to express their support.

The speakers described in detail the purpose and future of this newly formed relationship between the two clubs. “NGKC is the only organization in China that demonstrated to AKC their commitment to develop a trusted registry, to develop a set of rules for dog shows, to record accurately the results of expert judges and to offer championships to dogs that demonstrate excellent quality” said Mr. Stansell.

Mr. Shi Zhaoxin expressed his gratitude to all who made this project possible, and Mr. Wang explained membership qualifications and requirements. Mr. Vavas described in detail the processes and purpose of microchip insertions and DNA sampling.

Twelve kennel clubs were accepted for membership and seven additional clubs filed applications. Five animal clinics also became NGKC affiliated, all of which expressed their appreciation for this eagerly awaited day.
“China desperately needed a central organization and a national registry for its pure bred dog fancy. I am so very happy that it has finally happened.” said the president of the He Bei Tibetan Mastiff Club.