Jilin sees bright future for winter sports industry

The developing winter sports industry has invigorated northeastern Jilin province, and is expected to become a new driving force behind its economy as the national winter sports industry enters a golden period boosted by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, said one of the region's political advisers.

Benefiting from the winter sports momentum and promotional measures taken by the provincial government, Jilin has performed well in attracting winter travelers and investment for programs focusing on winter tourism and sports, said Yang Andi, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

For example, over the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, which ran from Jan 31 to Feb 6, travelers made more than 9.34 million trips to Jilin, up 13.9 percent year-on-year, according to figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

This generated revenues for the province of about 8.4 billion yuan ($1.33 billion), a rise of 12.4 percent on the same period last year.

Once a part of the ancient silk trade networks in East Asia, Jilin has endeavored to create a modern "Ice and Snow Silk Road" by making full use of its winter resources to build an economic ecosystem focused on the winter sports and tourism sectors to create new momentum for development.

Yang, who has also been the director of Jilin's Department of Culture and Tourism since 2018, said that the achievements the province has made so far in winter sports owe to its sound infrastructure, diverse winter offerings and good tourism services.

She said that in addition to a wealth of natural resources, Jilin is also good at coming up with innovative and supportive policies for winter tourism and sports.

"Jilin was the first province to adopt a strategic planning and whole industry chain development model to develop the sector. Jilin excels in practical innovation and policy innovation; theoretical breakthroughs were also made in Jilin; winter sports culture is crystalized here; the talent pool is also here," she said.

Supportive measures and generations of people devoted to winter sports are also strengths Jilin has in developing the sector, she said.

In September 2016, the province released a guideline on enhancing its winter sports sector with the aim of becoming a national powerhouse in winter tourism and sports and a world-class winter destination by improving its education, infrastructure and ski resorts. "Since then, supporting policies and planning have been rolled out. Jilin still benefits from them," she said.

She said that the province's people are also a treasure.

"Jilin's development in winter sports is a record of the diligence of its people who have deep affection and love for this land of ice and snow … They leave behind them an impressive heritage in this remarkable era, with their unyielding spirit and hard work," she said.

Yang added that the fact that the domestic winter sports market is yet to be fully developed gives her confidence. "China is the largest, also the last untapped winter sports and tourism market in the world, this is our competitive edge even in the global market," she said.

"Three hundred million people engaged in winter sports, one billion people in winter tourism, the advantages of a large national market will fundamentally change the global winter sports and tourism landscape."

"Jilin will fully tap into its advantages and promote collaboration. Internally, we will build an ice and snow community. Externally, we will expand our circle of friends. We will leverage our Ice and Snow Silk Road and explore its market potential across the country, throughout the year, and at home and abroad to contribute our part in addressing emerging international challenges," she added.