CIFTIS winter sports expo heralds China's booming snow and ice industry

By Xu Xiaoxuan
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, September 10, 2020
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Children perform ice dance at the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo held during the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, Sept. 6, 2020. [Photo by Zhang Rui/China.org.cn]

The World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo is one of the eight thematic exhibitions of the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) which started last Friday in Beijing. Under the theme of the "Power of Snow and Ice," the exhibition is committed to helping gear up for the 2022 Winter Olympics and boosting China's snow and ice (S&I) industry. 

The exhibition, covering an area of 16,000 square meters, is held both online and offline, where more than 500 Chinese and foreign brands present their products and services. These brands come from China and over 20 countries with strong S&I industries such as Austria, Norway, Finland, France and Germany. 

"The winter sports exhibition underlines the preparation work for the 2022 Winter Olympics and the significance of the S&I industry in the modern global trade in services, aiming to promote the integrated development of international sports, science and technology, cultural tourism as well as health industries," said Fu Xiaohui, director of the Beijing Olympic City Development Center. 

A visitor experiences alpine skiing through virtual reality (VR) devices at a booth of the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo during the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). [Photo/Chinanews.com]

The exhibition includes two parts. The first is to showcase the latest preparations for the Winter Olympics and the latest technology and services of the international S&I industry, among others, at China National Convention Center. The other is an outdoor display of the services and technologies related to the public participation in S&I sports. 

Popularization is one of the highlights of the winter sports exhibition. Thanks to skiing simulators, indoor rinks, and VR technology-enabled alpine skiing experiences offered by the exhibition, more non-professionals can experience winter sports without the constraints of seasons, venues and specialized equipment. 

Sarah Lewis, secretary general of the International Ski Federation, deemed the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games a historical opportunity to develop the S&I sports in China. "Such an outcome would create a really extensive winter sports industry in China and develop a base for many top athletes to train and for competitions to take place." 

Li Yingchuan, vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, pointed out that the total scale of China's S&I industry was expected to reach 800 billion yuan by 2022 and one trillion yuan by 2025.

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