In 2023, the industrial scale reached 890 billion yuan, the stock of ice and snow-related enterprises reached 12,000, and it is expected that the industrial scale will exceed one trillion yuan by 2025... In recent years, China's ice and snow industry has achieved significant growth. With the support of major events and related policies, market vitality continues to emerge, which has also driven more enterprises to participate. Industry insiders pointed out that China's ice and snow industry is in the "dawn period". With multi-level support from events, policies, and technology, it is expected to maintain a relatively fast development speed in the future, and the ice and snow economy is expected to continue to be "hot".

Recently, the State Council deployed measures to stimulate the vitality of the ice and snow economy with high-quality development of ice and snow sports, proposing measures such as "further expanding the mass base of ice and snow sports", "improving the development level of the entire industrial chain of the ice and snow economy", and "cultivating a group of leading enterprises and specialized and new small and medium-sized enterprises in the ice and snow field".

The report shows that since 2015, the scale of China's ice and snow industry has achieved significant growth, expanding rapidly from the initial 270 billion yuan to 890 billion yuan in 2023. It is expected that the industrial scale will reach 970 billion yuan in 2024 and break through the trillion yuan mark in the following year, with an estimated value of 1005.3 billion yuan. The data from Qichacha also shows that there are currently 12,000 ice and snow-related enterprises in China, and in 2023, the annual registration volume of China's ice and snow-related enterprises increased by 37.3% year-on-year, reaching the highest registration volume and growth rate in the past five years.

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Wang Yuxiong, director of the Sports Economics Research Center of Central University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with reporters that in the past period, especially with the hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the support of related policies, China's ice and snow industry has developed rapidly and has also driven the continuous transformation and upgrading of the entire ice and snow economy from a traditional form. At present, China is one of the most potential ice and snow sports consumer markets in the world. As a "dawn industry" in the early stage of development, it still has the potential to maintain a relatively long period of high-speed growth.

Localities are also actively strengthening their support for the ice and snow industry. On October 29, the reporter learned from the press conference on the preparation of the Harbin Asian Winter Games held by the State Council Information Office that Harbin will successively carry out more than 100 ice and snow festival events and competitions, including the 2024-2025 ice and snow season, the 41st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, and the Winter Triathlon World Cup. The Ice and Snow World will also launch new cultural tourism products to promote the mutual promotion and complementarity of ice and snow culture and tourism with the Asian Winter Games.

Han Shengjian, vice chairman of the Asian Winter Games Organizing Committee and vice governor of the People's Government of Heilongjiang Province, said at the above press conference that the spillover effect of the Asian Winter Games is gradually emerging. This year, the number of tourists from Asian countries and regions who are willing to travel to Heilongjiang has surged. For example, tens of thousands of tourists from Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and other countries plan to travel to Harbin by charter flights.

While the industry as a whole is growing, many new trends in the development of the ice and snow economy continue to emerge, with elements such as events and technology bringing more vitality to the industry.

The report pointed out that in recent years, the consecutive hosting of major ice and snow events such as the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and the 14th National Winter Games, will continue to drive the rapid growth of China's ice and snow industry and show the "hot" phenomenon of ice and snow cultural tourism consumption.

Zhou Jin Qiang, vice chairman of the Asian Winter Games Organizing Committee and vice chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee, also mentioned that a total of 82 national ice and snow events were held in the 2023-2024 snow season, and 21 international events were held in China. During the 10th National Mass Ice and Snow Season, more than 2,000 ice and snow events and activities were carried out across the country, setting off a new round of "hot" ice and snow.

It is worth noting that the application of more new technologies has also injected new momentum into the development of the ice and snow economy. Jiang Yiyi, deputy dean of the School of Physical Education, Leisure and Tourism at Beijing Sport University, said that from the development pattern of China's ice and snow industry, it is currently showing a trend of expansion to the south, expansion to the west, and advancement to the east according to relevant plans. "Not only is the northern region continuing to grow, but the southern region has also achieved new breakthroughs in ice and snow tourism and ice and snow industry development through facilities such as indoor ski resorts and indoor skating rinks, as well as support for technological breakthroughs and talent training, allowing for corresponding ice and snow tourism and ice and snow sports to be carried out locally."