Beijing: The National Alpine Skiing Centre of China has predicted that the country’s ice-snow sector would exceed one trillion RMB value in 2025. The Ski instructor at the centre, Xin Dawei, made this known on Wednesday at a global virtual news conference organised by the centre.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Xin lauded China for capturing both domestic and international investments to become the world’s fastest-growing winter sports market. He noted that, although the world was undergoing a plateau phase, China recorded significant increments for international businesses. Xin highlighted that two months ago, China released guidelines to boost the ice and snow economy with the aim to grow it into a 1.2 trillion-yuan industry by 2027.
Xin stated that the number of instructors at the centre has grown this year to meet the fast-rising demand, and hiring was still ongoing. He further explained that youngsters are venturing into snow fields inspired by Winter Olympic super idols, such as Eileen Gu and Yiming Su, with many driven by their skilful friends or partners. Riding the Olympics wave, China’s ice and snow sector is expected to exceed the mark of 1 trillion RMB this year, up from 970 billion RMB in 2024. In 2015, when China won the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the figure was 270 billion RMB.
He identified JD.com as an e-commerce platform for Chinese device buyers, noting remarkable growth in sales of ski-related gear in 2024, particularly ski goggles, snowshoes, and snowboards, which have increased by not less than 80 per cent year-on-year. Xin further quoted Mr Xie Jinhong, an official of winter sports sales at JD.com, as saying that Southern China sales had surged by over 100 per cent in Fujian, Anhui, Guangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong provinces.
Additionally, Xin mentioned that the current snow season is estimated to attract not less than 500 million visitors to ice and snow resorts, up from 385 million last season. He quoted Mr Benny Wu, Vice-President of Beijing Ski Association and author of the 2023-2024 China Ski Industry White Book, as saying that youngsters make up a significant portion of the winter sports participants. Wu noted that winter camps are attracting tens of thousands of students in Chongli, one of the host locations of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, compared to less attendance in the past.
Xin also highlighted the proliferation of skiing schools in China, pointing out that the country has become the world’s largest indoor ski market, home to over half of the world’s total and six out of the ten biggest indoor ski venues globally. Benny Wu emphasized that indoor venues offer convenient, year-round choices for city dwellers, especially in places lacking mountains for development.
Finally, Xin quoted Lisa Zhang, General Manager of the Marketing Department at Bonski, the largest indoor ski resort in Southern China, as saying that indoor skiing has become integrated into citizens’ lives. Lisa noted that sales of family tickets increased by 66.5 per cent in the past five years, with the number of preschoolers escalating 20 times.