Morning News — On the evening of November 25, Explorer (300005) announced that its controlling subsidiary, Explorer Ice & Snow Holdings Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the “Ice & Snow Company”), reached a consensus with the People’s Government of Gongyi City and the People’s Government of Jiajinkou Town, Gongyi City, regarding the Henan Zhongyue Songding Explorer Ski Resort project. On November 24, 2015, the parties signed the “Framework Agreement on the Development of the Henan Zhongyue Songding Explorer Ski Resort Project.”
The project has a planned total investment of 350 million yuan. Of this, the ski resort itself is expected to require an investment of about 270 million yuan, while other outdoor sports supporting projects will need around 80 million yuan. The project is expected to be completed within six years. The land area covers approximately 3 square kilometers in Wolong Village, Jiajinkou Town. The Ice & Snow Company will carry out protective development, with an operating period of 50 years.
The project is expected to provide a skiing venue for tourists and winter sports enthusiasts during the winter season, and to be transformed into a convenient outdoor experience center serving self-driving travelers, RV travelers, and outdoor activity enthusiasts in other seasons (with possible supporting facilities such as campsites and outdoor sports parks), meeting the diverse experience needs of skiing and outdoor enthusiasts.
Gongyi City is located south of Mount Song and north of the Yellow River. It is among the first group of expanded-authority county-level cities in Henan Province to be granted economic and certain social management powers similar to those of prefecture-level cities. Gongyi has a solid industrial foundation and is one of the birthplaces of China’s township enterprises. After nearly 40 years of development, it has formed a local industrial system with coexisting ownership structures and distinctive regional characteristics. In 2014, the fiscal revenue of the Gongyi Municipal People’s Government was approximately 3.1 billion yuan. Jiajinkou Town is situated in the southern part of Gongyi City. It is a newly developed mountainous town with convenient transportation, pleasant climate, abundant resources, and a talented population. In 2014, the fiscal revenue of the Jiajinkou Town People’s Government was approximately 73 million yuan.
Explorer stated that the signing of the framework agreement is conducive to the Ice & Snow Company seizing the opportunity presented by the rapid growth of the domestic winter sports market. Leveraging the company’s strengths in snow-making and snow-preservation technologies, it aims to create a model for ski resort construction and operation, laying the foundation for the future nationwide rollout and replication of ski resort construction, operation, and management models. At the same time, travel business segments within the outdoor ecosystem, such as Green Field Network and Easy Travel World, can channel effective customers to the ski resort, gathering outdoor enthusiasts. The ski resort can also feature dedicated sales channels for the company’s outdoor ski products, enhancing users’ awareness of outdoor gear related to skiing through services, thereby increasing the visibility and influence of the company’s outdoor product brand.