The press conference for the 2019 International Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo was held in Beijing

      On October 10, 2019, the Beijing Municipal People’s Government Information Office, together with the Beijing Olympic City Development Association, held a press conference for the 2019 International Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo (hereinafter referred to as the Winter Expo). Gao Yunchao, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Olympic City Development Association, and Zhang Li, Vice President of International Data Group (IDG) China, introduced the highlights, significance, and preparation progress of the 2019 Winter Expo.

      The 2019 Winter Expo is jointly organized by the Beijing Olympic City Development Association and IDG, with the Organizing Committee of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the Chinese Olympic Committee, and the All-China Sports Federation serving as supporting organizations. Finnish Ambassador to China Schiehlan and over a hundred journalists from the media attended the event.

      Continuing the theme of "Power of Ice and Snow," this year’s Winter Expo will be grandly held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing from October 17 to 20. Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Outline for Building a Strong Sports Nation," which aims to continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of sports development, meet the people's needs for a better life, and strive to make sports a landmark endeavor for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. As an annual highlight for the development of China’s and the global ice and snow industry, the 2019 International Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo will actively implement the decisions and plans for building a strong sports nation. With an international, industrial, and mass-oriented perspective, it will empower the innovative upgrade of this expo, establishing an international exchange channel for the ice and snow industry supported by technology, capital, and strategy. It will also create a platform for cultural communication among governments, organizations, and enterprises, driving the development of China’s winter sports industry, promoting the popularization of winter sports, and simultaneously building strong support for the successful hosting of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics from both the industrial environment and cultural atmosphere perspectives.

      The 2019 Winter Expo has been comprehensively upgraded from previous editions in terms of internationalization, industrialization, and mass participation, highlighting three major features: deepening international exchanges and cooperation, supporting innovation in the ice and snow industry, and creating a grand winter sports carnival for the public.

      1. Deepening International Exchanges and Cooperation. As one of the largest and most authoritative ice and snow industry events globally, this Winter Expo has attracted numerous international authoritative institutions and major winter sports powers. It is reported that key officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and presidents or secretaries-general of the seven winter sports international federations will attend in person. IOC President Thomas Bach and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö will also send congratulatory videos. Meanwhile, professional organization leaders and executives from leading international companies from approximately 90% of the world’s winter sports powers, as well as various countries and regions, will gather. Leveraging the opportunity of the "2019 China-Finland Winter Sports Year" and Finland being the guest country of honor for the 2019 Winter Expo, the event will promote international exchanges and cooperation in fields such as winter sports, education and training, and winter tourism, advancing comprehensive synergistic development of the ice and snow industry both domestically and internationally.

      2. Supporting Innovation in the Ice and Snow Industry. This Winter Expo will feature exhibitions of domestic and international start-up ice and snow enterprises, as well as related activities such as the Ice and Snow Entrepreneurship Competition. Through the platform of the Winter Expo, it will connect with international ice and snow industry channels, introduce cutting-edge global products and service chains, provide an international stage for emerging forces in the ice and snow industry, establish channels for connecting capital and industry, gather high-quality resources to build an ice and snow incubation zone, and promote the implementation of high-quality ice and snow projects.

      3. Public Winter Sports Carnival. Promoting the overall advancement of China’s winter sports and enhancing public attention and participation has always been the founding purpose of the Winter Expo. To popularize winter sports knowledge among the public, this Winter Expo has created a four-day ice and snow experience zone, encouraging active public participation in a series of ice and snow sports experiences to promote the spread of winter sports and ice and snow culture.

      At the press conference, Zhang Li, Vice President of IDG China, detailed the specific preparation progress of the 2019 International Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo. This year’s Winter Expo covers an exhibition area of 30,000 square meters, hosts over 20 parallel forums and supporting activities, gathers more than 600 domestic and international exhibitors, and features over 240 authoritative speakers from various fields. The expected attendance is projected to exceed 160,000 visitors. Comprehensive and multi-dimensional exhibitions, authoritative thematic forums, resource-rich industry exchanges, and colorful supporting activities together form the strong lineup of the 2019 Winter Expo, accumulating extensive energy for the successful hosting of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

      In terms of exhibitions, the 2019 International Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo features over ten themed exhibition areas, including the Olympic Theme Exhibition Area, National Pavilions, Winter and Alpine Technology, Indoor Ice and Snow Technology, Outdoor and Personal Equipment, Winter Tourism Destinations, Provincial and Municipal Pavilions and Winter Sports Culture, Ice and Snow Incubation, Ice and Snow in Schools, Media Exhibition Area, and Public Winter Sports Carnival. It will bring together leading forces and high-quality industry resources in various segments of the winter sports industry, providing an excellent stage for the promotion of ice and snow culture and winter sports products in various countries and regions. According to Zhang Li, international pavilions from Finland, Austria, Norway, Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Japan, Georgia, the United States, Canada, and others have confirmed their participation.

      For forum sessions, the theme forums of this Winter Expo will take the form of an opening ceremony, main forum, parallel forums, and special events, organizing over 20 related forums and supporting activities around cutting-edge topics in the field of ice and snow. These include the main forum, Olympic City Development Forum, Finland Day Themed Event, Ice and Snow Cultural Development Forum, Ice and Snow Entrepreneurship Competition, China Hockey Development Forum, Ski Resort Operation and Management Forum, China Ice and Snow Talent Development Forum, Ice and Snow Tourism Development Forum, Venue Design and Construction Forum, as well as a closed-door meeting of the International Ice and Snow Think Tank. Over the course of three days of thematic dialogues, key decision-makers in the winter sports industry—including government leaders, heads of international professional organizations, executives of leading international companies, domestic and international experts and scholars, professional investment institutions, domestic and international media, channel partners, and industry stakeholders—will collaborate to offer strategies for the development of the global ice and snow industry.

      Regarding industry exchanges, to enhance exchanges between domestic and international ice and snow industries and facilitate cooperation on high-quality ice and snow projects, the 2019 International Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo has specially set up a public stage and business negotiation area, providing a platform for showcasing and communicating high-quality ice and snow projects. Among them, the series of events for the China-Finland Winter Sports Year also include ice and snow resource promotions, matchmaking with quality enterprises, signing ceremonies for key projects, city exchange meetings, and promotions of premium winter tourism projects, opening up broad space for exchanges, cooperation, and integrated development in the ice and snow industry.

      For supporting activities, this Winter Expo will host a rich variety of innovative supporting events, including the International Ice and Snow Think Tank, series of events for the China-Finland Winter Sports Year, ice and snow industry research reports, WS TOPS Ice and Snow Industry Conference, Ice and Snow Experts Talk, Ice and Snow Entrepreneurship Competition, youth ice and snow experiences, and the Public Winter Sports Carnival. The WS TOPS Dongding Awards, as a highly influential annual selection in China’s ice and snow industry, will comprehensively showcase and promote the latest trends in the ice and snow industry to the public. The ice and snow industry research report will serve closer exchanges and cooperation between China’s and the international ice and snow industries through continuous research and in-depth trend insights. A wide range of supporting activities will promote the upgrade of the ice and snow industry from various directions, help emerging entrepreneurial projects thrive, and enhance the widespread popularization of winter sports culture.

      It is reported that the International Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo is jointly organized by the Beijing Olympic City Development Association and IDG, aiming to promote the popularization of winter sports knowledge in China and realize the goal of "engaging 300 million people in ice and snow sports." Since 2016, the Winter Expo has been held for three consecutive years and has now become the world’s largest and most authoritative premier ice and snow industry exhibition. It serves as an excellent platform for advancing the development of winter sports and an important force for accelerating the rapid growth of the ice and snow industry.

      For more information about the Winter Expo, please visit: http://www.wwse2022.com/, or follow the WeChat official account of the "International Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo."