(Home and Abroad News Press, Home and Abroad News website, Beijing report by journalist Ma Mingjun) On the afternoon of April 9th, the press conference for the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo 2018 (hereinafter referred to as WWSE) was held in Beijing.
The press conference was attended by Liu Jingmin, Executive Vice Chairman of Beijing Olympic City Development Association, Han Zirong, General Secretary of Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Fu Xiaohui, SecretaryGeneral of Beijing Olympic City Development Association and Director-General of Beijing Olympic City Development Center, Christoph Leitl, President of Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Xu Zhou, Vice President of IDG Asia, as well as members of diplomatic corps of more than 10 countries, representatives of famous companies in the winter sports-related industry, and reporters from over 100 media outlets.
WWSE organizers, Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) and International Data Group (IDG), gave a detailed presentation at the press conference about the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo 2018. They also announced Austria as the Major Guest of Honor of WWSE 2018 and signed an agreement with Austria. Experts and other representatives attending the conference also had a dialogue around the subject of “The Power of Ice and Snow, New Breakthrough at the Winter Olympic Beijing Cycle”.
Entering “Beijing Cycle”, WWSE aims to help boost the realization of the goal of increasing the industry’s output by 300 billion yuan
The first WWSE was initiated in 2016 following the successful bid of the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games with the aim of promoting the development of China’s ice and snow sports industry and encouraging 300 million people to participate in winter sports. With the success of WWSE 2016 and WWSE 2017, the Expo has become one of the world’s largest and most influential exhibitions in winter sports and related industries. With the advent of the Winter Games’ “Beijing Cycle” (the time leading up to the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2022), winter sports and related industries have been booming in China. As a professional platform dedicated to promoting the exchanges and development of winter sports and related industries, WWSE mobilizes resources from various areas in an attempt to help realize the goal of increasing the industries’ output by 300 billion yuan.
Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will also attend WWSE for the third consecutive year. By hosting the thematic exhibition of the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, it will introduce to more people the progress in the Games’ preparatory work, the distribution of events venues, stadium planning, as well as the knowledge about the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games sports and competitions. Mr. Liu Jingmin fully recognized the success of WWSE in the past two years, “By hosting WWSE, we are not only honoring our commitment made during the bid for the Games, but also taking such an important measure to carry on the Olympic spirit in an effort to support the preparation of the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, as the WWSE is a platform designed to facilitate the development of ice-snow sports and related industries as well as the popularization of winter sports as required by the development of these industries.”
WWSE covers the whole ice-snow sports industry chain by displaying its strengths.
At the press conference, Xu Zhou shared the achievements of the previous two WWSEs and introduced WWSE 2018 at great length: it will be held in Beijing from September 19th to 22nd this year with the theme of “The Power of Ice and Snow”, incorporating 8 exhibition sections, main conference + parallel forums, industrial connection and special promotional events. It will cover the whole industry chain by touching upon many areas including winter sports, ice and snow industry, tourism & leisure, and youth training. Exhibition venues will cover an area of 30,000 square meters at this year’s WWSE, and over 20 parallel forums and supporting events will be held. It is expected to attract over 500 Chinese and foreign brands, nearly 24,000 representatives from specialist agencies coming for business, and the total visits will achieve 150,000.
Xu Zhou said that many highlights will be expected at this year’s WWSE. In addition to the continuation of cooperation with Major Guest of Honor and Beijing Olympic City Development Forum, the organizers will initiate the International Ice and Snow Think Tank Program, inviting senior experts in the winter sports industry to join the think tank and contribute ideas to the development of China’s winter sports industry. Thematic exhibition section of winter Olympics will be set up to help build Beijing-Zhangjiakou Sports Tourism Belt. To serve the Belt and Road Initiative, the organizers will invite countries along the Belt and Road to attend the WWSE, helping them connect with domestic enterprises in terms of resources integration. Furthermore, this year’s WWSE will also release On Snow Demo, establish Winter Sports Media Alliance, set up a section for E-commerce partnership talks, and conduct online business matching. The potential of the industry will be fully explored by combining online resources matching and offline on-site test.
Deepened cooperation with Major Guest of Honor is established to enable China’s ice-snow sports industry to go global.
At this press conference, Fu Xiaohui announced Austria as the Major Guest of Honor of WWSE 2018, and witnessed the signing ceremony with the Major Guest of Honor, together with Liu Jingmin, Han Zirong, and Dr. Martin Glatz, Commercial Counselor of Austrian Embassy in China. As one of the cradles of modern skiing, Austria boasts many famous skiers as well as world-class ski equipment, lift technology and ski run installation equipment. Innsbruck, its famous city of ice and snow, was the host to two Winter Games. Austria also gave huge support to the previous two WWSEs. It sent top-notch enterprises in the industry to participate in the exhibition, displaying its great charm as a country good at winter sports. In December 2017, a WWSE delegation visited Austria to explore the strengths in this country’s ice-snow sports industry, WWSE cooperation and the development of the industry.
By cooperating with the Major Guest of Honor Austria, WWSE 2018 will further introduce good programs such as Austrian equipment and winter sports training so as to promote the development of China’s winter sports and related industries. Mayor of Innsbruck will be invited to attend the Beijing Olympic City Development Forum of WWSE to share the experience of hosting two Winter Games, contributing ideas on the inheriting and application of Olympics legacy, and Winter Games’ opportunities for urban development. In addition, WWSE organizers will also invite Austrian experts in the Organizing Committee of Winter Olympic Games, specialists in stadium operation and icons in winter sports training to join the International Ice and Snow Think Tank, pooling wisdom for the development of China’s winter sports industry.
From 2016 to 2017, WWSE aimed at developing itself into an international event for ice-snow sports industry with wide recognition and extensive participation. Thanks to the hard work in the past two years, it has become a new brand in the exhibitions of winter sports industry in Beijing, playing an increasingly important role in popularizing winter sports and promoting the development of the ice-snow sports industry.
Meanwhile, IOC, organizations for 7 sports in Winter Olympic Games, and winter sports industry in European and American countries good at winter sports and China also actively participated in the WWSE. At the opening ceremony of WWSE 2017, a congratulatory letter from IOC President Thomas Bach was read out. Mr. Bach expressed his congratulations on the opening of WWSE and spoke highly of it.
Thematic dialogue among industry icons is held to focus on the breakthroughs in the Winter Olympic “Beijing Cycle”.
At the press conference, moderated by Zhang Li, Vice President of IDG China, a discussion on the theme of “The Power of Ice and Snow, New Breakthrough at the Winter Olympic Beijing Cycle” was conducted among Zhao Yinggang, former Director-General of Winter Sports Management Center, General Administration of Sport of China, and President of China Sleigh Association, Gao Yunchao, Deputy Director-General of Beijing Olympic City Development Center, Dr. Martin Glatz, Commercial Counselor of Austrian Embassy in China, Fan Xiaogang, President’s Assistant, and General Manager of Brand Marketing Center and Urban Operation Center of Fulong Group, and Wu Bin, President of Beijing Carving Ski Group.
When bidding for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Beijing made a solemn commitment to the international community that it would host WWSE. Within a short span of two years, WWSE has gradually become a large and influential international event for ice-snow sports industry with wide recognition and extensive participation. WWSE will, as always, be dedicated to the development of China’s winter sports and the rise of related industries with the aim of promoting the transformation of the industry and attracting 300 million Chinese people to the winter sports.