China's ice, snow sector expected to surpass 1 trillion yuan

An aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 17, 2025 shows the main tower at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei)

China's booming ice and snow economy is driving new consumption scenarios, regional development, and the formation of complete industrial ecosystems.

According to a report on China's ice and snow industry development for 2025, the country's ice and snow sector is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan ($142 billion) this year.

During the 2024-2025 ice and snow season, total consumption in the sector surpassed 187.5 billion yuan, with spending at ski resorts reaching 78.61 billion yuan.

"I always said there would be winter sports before Beijing 2022 and winter sports after Beijing 2022, and this has proven to be true," said Thomas Bach, Honorary President for Life of the International Olympic Committee.

Bach added that China's efforts to engage more than 300 million people in winter sports represent a totally new dimension for the global winter sports.

This snow season, a bed-and-breakfast (B&B) run by Lang Enge at the foot of Xiaohaituo Mountain in Beijing's Yanqing district is once again welcoming a spike in visitors.

In 2017, seizing the opportunity presented by preparations for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Lang formed a farmers' skiing team with more than a dozen fellow villagers and served as its leader. He and his teammates visited schools and communities to promote winter sports, and he later became a Winter Olympics torchbearer and volunteer.

Driven by the Winter Olympics, Yanqing's popularity and tourist numbers surged. Many villagers in Zhangshanying town, including Lang, converted their old houses into B&Bs, tapping into the growing demand from winter sports enthusiasts.

"Among the guests staying at B&Bs are many who come to Yanqing to ski. I would like to reorganize our farmers' skiing team and establish a skiing station at the foot of Xiaohaituo Mountain to create a platform for snow enthusiasts to exchange ideas. This would also help retain tourists and boost the development of the dining and cultural tourism industries," Lang said.

Lang's story is not unique. In northeast China, many villagers living near ski resorts have become snow-making technicians, instructors or B&B owners. In northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the ancient fur ski-making technique has been transformed into a tourist experience program, generating additional income for herders. The ice and snow industry is providing diverse pathways for people to increase their incomes.

In the post-Winter Olympics era, China's ice and snow economy has expanded from its traditional strongholds in northeast and north China to regions across the country.

In northern regions rich in ice and snow resources, integrating the ice and snow industry with other sectors has become a key priority. Take Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province as an example: during the 2024-2025 ice and snow season, the city fully leveraged the value of its cultural IP by showcasing ice and snow art, blending Russian-style ambiance with northeastern folk customs, and improving citywide services. This resulted in a record 90.357 million tourist visits and 137.22 billion yuan in total tourism revenue.

Winter sports are also transcending geographical and seasonal boundaries, allowing people in warmer southern regions to enjoy ice and snow activities.

According to a report released by the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, as of April 2025, the country had 79 indoor ski resorts, up by 20, marking a 33.9 percent increase.

In terms of distribution, indoor ski resorts are concentrated mainly in east and south China, with Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces collectively hosting 24, accounting for 30.38 percent of the national total.

Data shows that during the 2024-2025 ice and snow season, 292 million Chinese residents participated in ice and snow sports, representing a participation rate of 20.61 percent, up by about 27.44 million people from the previous season.

Rising public enthusiasm has helped ice and snow sports form a complete industrial chain covering equipment manufacturing, event operations, training services and cultural tourism.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that China has developed a product system encompassing 15 major categories of ice and snow equipment and gear. The number of related enterprises grew from approximately 300 in 2015 to about 900 in 2023, while sales revenue rose from less than 5 billion yuan in 2015 to approximately 22 billion yuan in 2023.