Foreign enterprises ready to explore 'blue ocean' in China's Olympic economy

Future of green technology

The Water Cube used in the 2008 Summer Games is now the Ice Cube. The venue was used for curling, and due to a convertible support structure and a removable ice-making system, leaving the swimming pool intact.

This transformation mode can highly reduce the reconstruction cost and slice carbon emissions generated by a new-established stadium, said Li Sen, director-general of the general planning department of Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee.

Technology has played an important role in realizing the transformation of the Olympic venue and is expected to reshape the sports industry and bring more benefits for market players, according to industry insiders.

"Technology innovation will be an important force to drive the high-quality development of the ice and snow industry," said Zhou from PwC, expecting a deeper integration between the sector and digital technologies.

Ice and snow enterprises can develop more digital products such as wearable intelligent equipment and big data platform, build digital application scenarios, and expand new forms of business related to cloud fitness, online training and virtual sports, Zhou noted.

Green technologies have been put on high agenda for suppliers of the Games. For example, Italian snow groomer manufacturer PRINOTH has equipped their vehicles for the competition venues with a cutting-edge system to help increase efficiency, save cost and optimize performance for ski resorts.

"The opportunities for foreign companies are endless in sustainable development, from water recycling to clean and renewable energy to solar and wind electricity," said Brunelli, expecting some projects built for the Olympics to gain a higher market cap in China amid its carbon neutrality goal.

"Olympic Games put China under the spotlight. It's important to show and concretely see the commitment to pursue sustainability not only in the ice and snow industry but in all the different sectors," said Colombo, adding that China has the potential to be one of the leading economies in the pursuit of sustainable development.

Investors have taken a shine to the technology-driven boom in the sports industry and beyond. "Technology plus sports is a particularly hot track, and those technologies related to sports can also be applicable to a wider range of scenarios," said Zhou, referring to compelling investment opportunities.

Eyeing China's vast market prospects, PwC has released a plan to invest 8 billion yuan (about $1.3 billion) in China in the next five years, with priorities in digital redesign, digital products and solutions, sustainable development, regional economic clusters and future workforce.

"We will rapidly expand the use of emerging technologies, and extend all services to meet the complex challenges facing businesses and society," said Thomas Leung, PwC China Markets Managing Partner.