Pool powers of winter sports in building Winter Olympics Dream -- Grand Opening of the 3rd World Winter Sports Expo in Beijing

BEIJING, Sept. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The world witnessed the grand opening of the 3^rd World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo on 19^th Sept. 2018 in China National Convention Center (CNCC). The event is co-organized by the Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) and the US International Data Group (IDG) and cosponsored by Beijing Olympic City Development Center and IDG World Expo Ltd. and has received huge support from the Beijing Organising Committee of 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, China Olympics Committee, All-China Sports Federation as well as various other bodies in China and abroad. As the Beijing Olympics brings immense opportunities, the Winter Sports Expo is aiming at "engaging 300 million people in winter sports" and committed to integrating the authoritative information resources of global winter sports, and accelerating the promotion and popularization of winter sports, which will help to realize a historic leap in the development of China's winter sports industry.

Themed "the power of winter sports", this year's Winter Sports Expo will pool global resources and promote China's endeavor in becoming an unneglectable power in global winter sports industry. The Expo brings together 8 exposition sections, main forum + parallel forums, professional promotion campaigns, winter sports experiences, and various other forms of events, which demonstrates the latest experience and achievements in global winter sports industry in a multidimensional and platform-wide manner, discusses the route of winter sports development in China. During this huge 4-days winter sports expo, the 30,000 sqm large exposition area and over 20 main forums and parallel forums is estimated to attract over 150,000 visitors from the public and 24,000 representatives from professional institutions, gathering over 500 reputable winter sports brands from over 20 countries and over 200 renowned experts in the global winter sports industry to join the discussion and collaboration, which has created the largest scale in the history of Winter Sports Expo. Since its founding in 2016, the World Winter Sports Expo has become the biggest and most authoritative winter sports expo in the world after three years of development, which now sees its impact throughout Asia and reaching towards international level.

We're also honored to have officials from various bodies and leaders from domestic and overseas winter sports industry in this year's Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo's opening ceremony and main forum. President of the International Olympic Committee Mr. Thomas Bach has sent a congratulatory letter on the successful opening of the Winter Sports Expo, which was delivered by the Yu Zaiqing, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, at the ceremony. Mr. Bach also shared his optimistic expectation for winter sports development and support for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The officials and guests attending the Winter Sports Expo include: Cai Qi, Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and President of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics; Chen Jining, Mayor of Beijing and Executive President of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics; Zhang Jiandong, Vice Mayor of Beijing, Executive Vice President of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics, Vice Chairman of Beijing Olympic City Development Association; Juan Antonio Samaranch, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, Chair of the Coordination Commission for the 2022 Beijing Olympics; Yu Zaiqing, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, Vice President of China Olympic Committee, Vice President of Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics, etc., and also Presidents and Secretary Generals from International Ski Federation (FIS), International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), International Skating Union (ISU), International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation (FIBT), World Curling Federation (WCF), Austria Olympic Committee, as well as over 20 officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as our guests.

Hugo SHONG, Global Chairman of IDG Capital, sees China's effort in holding the 2022 Winter Olympics as visionary whether it's from the perspective of athletic sports or the promotion of leisure recreational winter sports activities. World Winter Sports Expo will bring in world-class winter sports products and focus on science and technology for the future as well as lead an international, comprehensive, coordinated development of the winter sports industry, while at the same time increase the public's knowledge and love for winter sports and lead the development of winter sports towards the sector of public leisure sports.

9 Highlights and the Spirit of Winter Olympics ignite the Sessions

As the Winter Olympics enters the "Beijing Cycle", winter sports in China have entered a golden era for development. Favorable policies such as "Recommendations on accelerating the development of winter sports industry to promote sports-related consumption" and "Plan for Promotion and Popularization of public winter sports (year 2016-2020)" have pushed for good results. We have also seen efforts in the promotion of winter sports and industry building stepping up nationwide, enterprises and government institutions at all levels pressing hard for designing the layout of the winter sports industry, the number of people trying out and rejoining winter sports activities growing year by year, and the increasing popularity of winter sports, which shifted such activities from a "taste of luxury" to "daily choice of life". Discussions as to how to effectively grasp the important strategic link-points in the Beijing Winter Olympics and accelerate the overall progress in the construction of winter sports infrastructure, market discipline, talent training, culture formulation and other areas remain an agenda of major concern for various social actors.

This year's Winter Sports Expo aims at grasping the valuable opportunity for leading the rapid development of winter sports by holding the Beijing Winter Olympics and presenting 9 highlights in terms of winter sports experience for our audience, demonstrating the scientific route of winter sports development throughout the industrial chain against the backdrop of the Beijing Winter Olympics by hosting the Olympic City Forum to invite representatives from cities that already hosted Winter Olympics to this forum and discussing the opportunities of the Winter Olympics and City Development with experts from Beijing. The Expo also aims to create a regional base for winter sports tourism in Beijing and Zhangjiakou, based on the three Winter Olympic venues, namely Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, to support the new phase of preparation for Winter Olympics in "Beijing Cycle", to follow China's "One Belt One Road" initiative and invite countries along the OBOR to participate, in order to dock resources and conduct cultural communication with domestic enterprises, to continue and upgrade our cooperation with former countries of honor, exclusively invite Austria – a major European power in winter sports as the country of honor for this year's expo, introduce more advanced equipment and winter sports training programs from Austria. We established the first Winter Sports Think-Tank by inviting renowned senior experts and scholars of the winter sports industry, both in China and abroad, to discuss the future for China's winter sports industry. Activities such as On Snow Show, On-snow Experience Event, On-snow music event, Fashion Show, Happy Hour, Winter Sports Film Festival and other various forms of activities can help promote a diversified development in the industry. We are also committed to creating a media group dedicated to the winter sports industry and instantly delivering news within this industry, as well as inviting partners in the online business sector to our on-site business negotiation area in Winter Sports Expo, thus systemically integrating the channels and resources in winter sports and enabling efficient information exchange based on the on-line business matching system using data analysis network.

Joining the Winter Sports Expo for the third time, this year the Beijing Olympic Committee offered exciting expositions for audiences from all sectors on the theme of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which covers the progress in the preparation for the Winter Olympics, layout and planning of sports venues and stadiums, knowledge on Winter Olympics and Paralympics sports and competitions, as well as various other forms of display. All these allowed the audience to have a close-up interaction with the much-anticipated Beijing Winter Olympics, learn about the Beijing Winter Olympics, gain understanding of the spirit of the Winter Olympics and become fond of winter sports through participation.

Jennifer Xu, President of IDG Asia noted that the scale of this year's WWSE is larger than ever, and that it not only attracted prominent figures from global winter sports industries to share their invaluable experience but also introduced premium global winter sports resources into China, which led and promoted the boom of China's winter sports industry and demonstrated China's power in winter sports. This year's WWSE will fully support the preparation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and help China work towards "engaging 300 million people in winter sports".

Fu Xiaohui, Secretary General of Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA), noted in this year's expo that in the efforts of bidding and preparing for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, BODA played an indispensable role as an Olympic heritage organization and was dedicated to formulating the "Action Plan for BODA in Winter Olympics within Beijing Cycle". As the world's largest and most authoritative event of the winter sports industry, WWSE is not only a solemn commitment to the international community made by Beijing while bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics but also a key aspect of promoting the growth of China's winter sports industry and will surely support the 2022 Winter Olympics in the "Beijing Cycle" while it aims to comprehensively demonstrate China's power in winter sports.

As the largest WWSE in terms of scale, this year's expo provides over 500 brand exhibitors and over 9,000 agents from all over the world with numerous professional exhibition areas in fields such as winter and alpine technology, roller skating and dry skiing, equipment and peripheral products for individuals, facilities in venues, ice resurfacers, snowmakers, winter tourist destinations, winter and sports culture. All these provide a systemic demonstration of the world's cutting-edge achievements in the industry, such as winter sports technology, equipment and gear, IP sports events, winter sports tourism, and winter sports education. We have seen exhibitors from Austria, France, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, South Korea, Czech Republic and other countries joining the expo to demonstrate their strong national power in winter sports. Moreover, this expo is also joined by representative companies from sectors such as large facilities in winter sports, sports venue planning, and design and operation, including Carving, POMA, AST, Doppelmayr, Beijing Snow Power Sports, MND, AXIS, Beijing Materials Handling Research Institute Co. Ltd., ES, Winoly Culture, Shiqihua Group, Yahao, Senlinxue, BMF, Impulse, Shineed Sporting, Aerospace Icesnow, Zamboni, Maxy Plus, Nortec, Shengxiang Ski, China Mountain Development, Glitzcamp, Blue Ocean, Binggongjiang, and Aletta, and famous winter tourist destination and ski resorts, including St. Moritz, Nagano Japan, Changbai Mountain, Beidahu, Genting Resort Secret Garden, and Club Med, as well as roller skating, dry ice, and equipment for individuals, including Alpine Pro, Snowelan, Konquer Sports Inc., Liski, BigAirBag, Potent Sports, and Senhaida.

Summit focuses on the way forward, jointly drafts the blueprint for winter sports

Under the guideline of development stressing both practice and theory, WWSE has been dedicated to establishing an international authoritative winter sports summit since its initial launch, exploring the way ahead for China's winter sports industry. In this year's expo, "2018 World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo Opening Ceremony and Main Forum" led several parallel forums in welcoming representatives from IOC and World Winter Sports Organizations, Ambassadors from various countries to China, and Winter Olympic Champions, altogether some 200 leaders in the industry, to gather in Beijing and discuss the prospect of China's winter sports development in order to grasp key trends in the industry's lifeline in an in-depth manner.

In the 2018 World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo Opening Ceremony and Main Forum, guests shared their insight and expectation for the efforts of promoting winter sports in China and gathering power in winter sports. They were Gian-Franco Kasper, IOC Member, President of the International Ski Federation (FIS), Member of the Coordination Commission for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics; Friedrich Stift, Ambassador of Austria to the People's Republic of China; René Fasel, IOC member, President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Member of the Coordination Commission for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics; Jan Dijkema, President of the International Skating Union (ISU); Ivo Ferriani, IOC member, President of the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF), Member of the Coordination Commission for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and other leaders in the industry worldwide. Zhu Dongfang, VP of IDG China, released "Research Report on the Development of China's Winter Sports Industry" in assisting China's winter sports industry to take stock, review present work and think for the future.

Besides delivering keynote speeches, leaders and guests from all sectors also opened thematic dialogue on the winter sports industry in the 2018 World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo Opening Ceremony and Main Forum, which allowed the exchange of ideas and insights and in turn offered recommendations and advice on the development of winter sports. In thematic dialogue "Power of Winter Sports Taking Over the World", Jiang Xiaoyu, Vice Chairman of Beijing Olympic City Development Association, held professional-level exchanges with officials and guests from the Organising Committee of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and IOC, and discussed ways for China to efficiently develop winter sports in order to establish a winter sports power that can make a change to the overall layout of global winter sports industry. In thematic dialogue "Power of Winter Sports Taking Over the World", Zhao Yinggang, President of China Sled Association, along with Chinese and foreign guests from IOC, the Embassy of Norway in China, and leaders in winter sports, all focused on discussing the business formats in the winter sports industry and innovative modes for cooperation, exploring ways to coordinate resources from various social groups and jointly promote the growth of this industry. In the "2018 WWSE Dialogue with Champions" session, Tang Weihong, VP of People's Daily Online, held an in-depth dialogue with Li Jianrou, Winter Olympic Champion for Short Track Speed Skating; Chen Jianxin, Paralympic Winter Olympic Champion for Curling; Liu Jinli, World Champion for Curling; Guo Dandan, World Champion for Skiing and other Winter Olympic Champions and invited them share their experience and feelings for the Winter Olympics and analyze the opportunities and challenges in the promotion and popularization of winter sports in China.

Since we're at the key stage of Winter Olympics entering the "Beijing time zone", the work needed for a successful Winter Olympics and integrating city development with the preparation of Olympics is a test to Chinese experts and scholars. To this end, this year's expo especially launched "Olympic City Development Forum" and invited mayors of cities that held Winter Olympics before as well as planners, designers, and experts in operation and management of sports venues to gather at the expo and open discussions on important topics such as the relationship between opportunities brought by the Winter Olympics and City Development, Olympic City Planning and utilization of venues after sports events, international cooperation and exchange between Olympic cities, conducting research on the innovative route for sustainable development that suits Beijing's role as a city that will have held both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

In view of the rapid development of winter sports, knowledge and formulation of theories related to the winter sports industry is indispensable. To this end, this year's expo held the "World Winter Sports Think-Tank Closed-door Meeting" for the first time in history, where we invited senior experts and scholars to join us in pooling the world's top intelligence resources. In this year's closed-door meeting, Zhang Li, VP of IDG China, organized experts and scholars from all over the world to hold a detailed analysis, discussion and professional research on the major issues related to China's winter sports development, to provide authoritative academic insight and support the development of winter sports industry by laying a sound foundation and point out a clear direction.

Parallel forums also focused on the key elements of winter sports development, to conduct an in-depth deconstruction of the pain points, share experience and seek for optimal strategy. For example, "Popularization of Youth Ice and Snow Sports Forum" gathered Chinese and foreign experts in youth training and discussed the path for winter sports training in schools that suits China's winter sports development; "Winter Sports Entrepreneurship Competition" selected good startup projects in relevant sectors of the winter sports industry and is dedicated to cultivating a new batch of rising stars in China's winter sports industry based on WWSE as the platform; "Ice Hockey Development Forum" integrates premium resources in the field of ice-hockey, and opened in-depth discussion on all the key aspects of the development of China's ice-hockey industry; "Venue Operation and Management Forum" focused on the new norm of sports venue industry to help businesses in their self-reflection and construct a brand new blueprint; "Winter Sports Brand Conference" gathered premium winter sports brands both in China and abroad, to gain insight on the new trends in the industry from the perspective of marketing, and set an example for China's winter sports industry; "Ski Resort Operation and Management Forum " gathered Chinese and foreign operators of ski resorts in order to find a new development model for China's ski resorts; "Winter Sports Tourism Industry Forum" created a platform for communication between Tourism Bureaus, travel agencies and ski resort operators, and share experience on the operation of winter sports tourism; "Winter Sports Talent s Development Forum" invited officials from sports departments, Principals of Sports College to hold a dialogue with ski resort operators and discuss the way of training winter sports talents in China.

Interaction with immense Vitality, increasing heatwave in Winter Sports

With the heatwave of winter sports enthusiasm brought by the Beijing Olympics on the increase, the winter sports industry has been included in China's national and local economic development planning and plays a vital role in stimulating consumption, bringing new forms of cultural activities and promoting people's health, thus allowing all individuals to gain knowledge and develop fondness for winter sports, which in turn serve as the key to promoting accelerated growth in winter sports industry. In addition to systemically integrating global winter sports resources and conduct in-depth analysis on the structure of the industry's development, WWSE also provides the perfect platform for ordinary consumers to experience winter sports. This year's WWSE offered various forms of amazing interactive activities, committed to creating an immersive experience of winter sports featuring displays, knowledge and fun. This will substantively and effectively promote the popularization of winter sports and the building of winter sports cultural soft power.

At the site of WWSE, audiences can not only experience the alpine skiing AR against the virtual reality background of Haituo Mountain which is the venue for the 2022 Olympics Alpine Ski competition in Yanqing Exhibition Area in order to let the audience witness what Beijing Winter Olympics has to offer in advance but also experience the fun game of ice football in person in a 300 sqm real-ice rink, and also experience living in an Igloo in an imitated world of snow, join the ice-hockey game experience presented by Potent Sports Ltd. with Canadian ice-hockey figures playing by your side, tri-experience of skating on cutting-edge technology-made ice, and skiing on pearl-like dry snow and rainbow ski slope. The various forms of interaction sparked the audience's enthusiasm to participate and explore the fun of engaging in winter sports.

Moreover, Youth Quiz on Winter Sports, Youth Winter Sports Tournaments and other promotional and educational activities of winter sports catering to the public are widely welcomed. The youngsters who represent the future of winter sports experience beforehand the charm of winter sports culture. Launching ceremony of new products, WS TOPS Award Ceremony, Research Reports on winter sports industry, open stage road show and other innovative activities under this forum also brings vitality to the communication in this industry.

The emerging China winter sports market is winning world attention, with immense opportunities and challenges awaiting development and continuous exploration by the joint efforts of social players. World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo will continue to work with partners from all sectors, pool global powers in winter sports, speed up the development of this industry by grasping this golden era, support China's endeavor realizing the dual goals of "engaging 300 million people in winter sports" and "create a strong nation in winter sports".

Follow the official account of WWSE (Search "World Winter Sports Beijing Expo") in wechat official account platform and visit our website at http://wwse2022.com for the latest news on WWSE.

About World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo (WWSE)

World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo, co-organized by Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) and International Data Group (IDG), is a professional and authoritative international exposition focusing specifically on winter sports. It aims to introduce the knowledge of winter sports to Chinese and promote the project of "engaging 300 million people in winter sports activities" to popularize the winter sports activities in China. The World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo has been held annually since 2016 in Beijing, China. It is on its way to become the largest world-leading exposition of winter sports. As a professional and national-level exposition, WWSE wins over support and cooperation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and federations of seven winter Olympic sports. It will support the preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympics, promote the comprehensive development of sports in China, and help usher in a promising future of the booming winter sports industry in China. For more information please visit our website: http://wwse2022.com

About IDG World Expo Ltd.

As the China branch of the world leading IT publishing, market research, tradeshow & conference company --International Data Group (IDG), IDG World Expo Ltd. holds over 700 various international and regional academic seminars, market analysis and products expos in 67 countries around the world annually, with immense resources in large events and advanced experience in holding expositions.

Committed to organizing professional expositions and conferences, IDG World Expo Ltd. holds over 20 international expositions and professional meetings in China based on its advantages, experience and expertise in the industry, covering events in the fields of computer technologies, electronics and telecommunications, environmental protection, venture capital, culture and art. We plan, design, implement and operate expositions of numerous themes, and offer promotion and popularization in China to businesses and international organizations as well as providing such services to Chinese companies wishing to promote their products overseas. As the pioneer of holding major conferences in China, we are the top organizer of professional conferences at international level within China, with over half of the sponsors and exhibitors coming from globally renowned enterprises. For more information please visit our website: www.idgevents.com.cn

SOURCE IDG China

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