China's ice, snow market reports steady expansion, upgrading

BEIJING -- China's ice and snow market has seen robust growth and strong upgrading momentum as winter sports become more and more popular among consumers.

The market value rose 51.88 percent year on year in 2021 and is expected to exceed 800 billion yuan (about $113.41 billion) this year. It is likely to top 1 trillion yuan in 2025, according to a report on the development of the industry.

Ice and snow tourism is popular among Chinese consumers, and the number of skiers has seen rapid growth, said Shen Jiani, a researcher with online travel agency Trip.com Group, noting that the number of skiers on its platform surged over 70 percent year on year in the 2021-2022 snow season.

"Instead of merely experiencing something new, consumers are taking skiing as their hobby," said Shen, citing the significant consumption growth related to learning skiing in the previous two snow seasons.

Eyeing the strong potential of the market, measures have been taken to promote industrial upgrades to meet the diversified demand of consumers.

For example, Northeast China's Jilin province has issued a plan to build a modern ice and snow industrial system with tourism, sports, culture, and equipment at its core.

The supply side of the ice and snow industry has been more focused on safe, green, high-quality, and healthy consumption and made efforts to create new consumption scenarios with various products and services, said Sun Chuanwang, a professor at Xiamen University.