The World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo opens in Beijing to better integrate the ice & snow economy with trade in services

BEIJING, Sept. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 5, the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo 2020 ("WWSE") opened at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. The WWSE, as a grand event for the world ice and snow industry, is co-sponsored by the Beijing Olympic City Development Association and the International Data Group, co-organized by the Association of the International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) and the seven International Olympic Winter Sports Federations, and supported by the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the Chinese Olympic Committee, and the All-China Sports Federation.

The WWSE of this year was held together with the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). As one of China's three exhibition platforms for opening up, CIFTIS has become the world's first comprehensive exhibition for trade in services. Leveraging on the platform of the CIFTIS, the WWSE, in the form of a special exhibition on winter sports, highlights the important position of the snow and ice industry in modern global trade in services, and provides a tremendous opportunity for the international development of China's snow and ice industry.

Continuing the theme of the "Power of Ice and Snow", maintaining the three highlights of "Internationalization, Industrialization and Popularization" and aiming at "Connecting with international winter sports resources to urge the development of China's ice and snow industry", the WWSE of this year, through the full integration of world ice and snow resources and the continuous strengthening of international exchanges and cooperation, works as an international ice and snow industry exchange platform and becomes the world's top expo for the world ice and snow industry, thus providing an all-round boost for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

The opening ceremony and main conference of the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo 2020 was presided over by Liu Jingmin, the Executive Vice President of the Beijing Olympic City Development Association, participated in by political leaders and industry experts from many countries around the world in the form of physical presence or online video. Mr. Li Yingchuan, Deputy Director General and member of the Party Leadership Group of the General Administration of Sport of China, Vice President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Mr. Zhang Jiandong, Vice Mayor of Beijing, Executive Vice President of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vice President of the Beijing Olympic City Development Association, and Dr. Friedrich Stift, Austrian Ambassador to China, attended the event, addressed the conference and delivered keynote speeches. Mr. Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), delivered a video speech, while a number of honored guests, including Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch, member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and President of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Coordination Committee, Ms. Annika Saarikko, Minister of Science and Culture of Finland, Mr. Olle Dahlin, President of the International Biathlon Union (IBU), and Ms. Sarah Lewis, Secretary General of the International Ski Federation (FIS) and ex-officio member of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Coordination Committee, all delivered keynote speeches.

Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee, congratulated the successful convening of this WWSE in the video. He said "By bringing together the winter sport industry under the theme of the power of ice and snow, the world winter sports expo is the perfect platform to highlight this important contribution of sport to the recovery. The expo is also an important step as China gets ready to welcome the world's best winter sport athletes in 2022, whether in sport or in preparing for the future, we are always stronger together in this Olympic spirit."

Mr. Zhang Jiandong, Vice Mayor of Beijing, Executive Vice President of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vice President of the Beijing Olympic City Development Association, said in his speech, "I hope that everyone can make full use of the WWSE platform and give full play to your respective advantages to achieve more fruitful results through in-depth negotiations and cooperation with the down-to-earth attitude. I also hope that the Organising Committee of the WWSE will further innovate the organization and operation mode, and cooperate closely with all parties at home and abroad on this more open and higher-level platform of the CIFTIS, so as to continuously improve the level of hosting the event, to promote the high-quality development of snow and ice sports and the ice and snow industry, and to make new and greater contributions to hosting a wonderful, extraordinary and outstanding Olympic event."

After that, moderated by Ms. Zhang Li, Vice President of IDG China, Mr. Liu Fumin, Director General of the Department of Sports Economy of the General Administration of Sport of China, Mr. Piao Xuedong, Director of the Market Development Department of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Ms. Signe Brudeset, Norwegian Ambassador to China, Mr. Jarno Syrjala, Finnish Ambassador to China, Mr. Emanuele de Maigret, Deputy Head of the Embassy of the Republic of Italy in China, Minister Counsellor, Commercial Counsellor of Economic and Commercial Affairs Department, and Mr. Zhao Yinggang, Deputy Director of the Sustainable Development Committee of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and President of the Chinese Association of Sled had a round-table dialogue with the topic of "Ways to Develop the Ice and Snow Industry".

The WWSE has been held annually in Beijing since 2016, and it is the fifth edition so far. As a solemn commitment made by Beijing to the international community when bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the WWSE has come into the stage of helping the rapid development of China's winter sports and snow and ice industry, and exerts an increasing influence on a global scale. The WWSE of this year will last for five days, and take diverse forms such as shows and exhibitions, thematic forums, business matchmaking, and supporting activities to fully connect with international ice and snow resources and conduct intensive international exchanges and cooperation, so as to promote the sustainable and healthy development of China's ice and snow industry, and to build momentum for the success of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Demonstrate the power of ice and snow, and forge a global industry with diverse exhibition areas

This edition of WWSE has exhibition areas in both the China National Convention Center exhibition hall and the outdoor exhibition hall on the south side of the Linglong Tower, where nearly 20 ice and snow powerhouses and more than 500 international and domestic brands present a variety of unique ice and snow styles.

The E1 and E2 halls of the China National Convention Center, as the core exhibition halls, provides the exhibition areas for the Winter Olympics theme and international organizations, world-famous ice and snow brands, world trade in ice and snow services, ice and snow technology, and ice and snow equipment, so as to give a panoramic presentation of the innovative explorations of the international authoritative organizations, the globally renowned ice and snow companies and institutions; and the outdoor ABC exhibition hall on the south side of the Linglong Tower has exhibition areas for Winter Olympics theme, ski resorts operation and venue construction, outdoor equipment, indoor ice and snow technology, winter tourism destinations and provincial and municipal pavilions, ice and snow culture training, ice and snow innovation and entrepreneurship, ice and snow carnival, and ice and snow media alliance, public arena promotion, business negotiation, and buyer service, brought visitors a comprehensive display and rich experience of international winter sports, thus accelerating the popularization of winter sports.

In the "Winter Olympic Theme and International Organizations" exhibition area, the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and the International Ski Federation (FIS), International Skating Union (ISU), World Curling Federation (WCF) and other international Olympic winter sports federations brought a wealth of displays such as the construction of Winter Olympic venues, and the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games sports events, and also showed the phased results of hosting the Olympics in a green and frugal manner. And the "Ice and Snow Technology" exhibition area presented plenty of new smart devices such as 4K/8K ultra-high-definition high-speed cameras, ultra-high-definition aerial drones, and intelligent crosscountry skiing guiding system, allowing everyone to truly experience and understand the latest technologies and products of the high-tech Winter Olympics and witnessing the power of the ice and snow technology.

On the international side, nearly 20 winter sports powers such as Austria, Norway, France, Japan, Italy, Finland, Iceland, Slovenia, Germany, the United States, and the Czech Republic organized teams to participate in the expo, with the international participation accounting for more than 50%. Specifically, the Austrian pavilion brought the "Thousand Chinese Ski Instructors" program, and the Japanese pavilion brought a series of distinctive activities such as the "Japan Winter" quiz, travel enthusiast sharing session, and clay handicraft experience. On the domestic side, Jilin, Changbai Mountain, Yulin, Altay, Shijingshan, Yanqing and other snow and ice provinces and regions also demonstrated the ice and snow strength and respective regional characteristics.

Numerous international and domestic well-known companies showcased their features and highlights from a variety of aspects such as the ice and snow technology, ice sports construction, ski equipment and intelligent solutions. For example, Snow51 brought the skiing simulator to show the charm of one-stop skiing in the city; TechnoAlpin brought the snow-making machine to the Expo site, allowing the audience to be in the snow and ice world; Eternal Star showed the successful indoor ice and snow venue model, the latest indoor snow-making technology, and the "Snowmaking and Snowflying House Landscape"; Shougang's "Full-sense VR Curling Experience" allowed visitors to experience the fun of curling through VR equipment. In addition, Doppelmayr, Eurojoy, Burton, ALPS Group, AXESS, Decathlon, Vik-Max, Nortec and many other international brands also showed their latest achievements and cutting-edge exploration at the WWSE.

The future of the ice and snow industry: build an international exchange platform with high caliber and professionalism

As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games approaches, China's ice and snow industry has ushered in a prime period of development. This edition of WWSE provides a high-level professional international exchange platform and brings together the world's top industry experts and think tank resources to contribute ideas and suggestions for the smooth hosting of the Winter Olympics and the rapid, vigorous and sustainable development of the world ice and snow industry.

The WWSE of this year attracted guests from more than 20 countries, including domestic and foreign government leaders, officials from the International Olympic Committee and international sports organizations, executives from domestic and foreign ice and snow companies, experts in the ice and snow industry, and professionals from related industries, with international participation accounting for more than 50%. At the opening ceremony and main conference of the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo 2020, the guests exchanged views on the sores and difficulties, opportunities and challenges, and trends in the development of the ice and snow industry in the post-epidemic era, and explored the strategies and development paths of the ice and snow industry in the context of epidemic resistance becoming the new global normal.

Apart from the main conference, this edition of WWSE also set up the parallel forums such as the Olympic City Development Forum, Competition of Ice and Snow Entrepreneurship, Ice and Snow Equipment Forum, Winter Sports Talent Development Forum, Shijingshan Special Promotion Conference, Winter Olympics Science and Technology Forum, Venue Design and Construction Forum, Forum on Ice and Snow Popularization for Teenagers, International Ice & Snow Tourism Development Forum, and Ski Resorts Operation and Management Forum, as well as a number of promotion activities such as the Altay Prefecture Special Promotion Conference, which brought together world-renowned experts and collected the top industry wisdom to explore and discover more development opportunities for the ice and snow industry in this new era.

Empower the ice and snow industry, to boost international cooperation for deeper industry connection

The WWSE 2020 contributes to the efficient integration and in-depth connection of industrial resources, and speeds up the transformation of industrial achievements and the implementation of key projects through the continuous provision of intensive exchanges and cooperation of the international ice and snow industry. By setting up exhibition area, public arena and business negotiation area for exhibitors and organizations, creating a series of activities such as thematic forums, awards selection, resource promotion and industry exchange meeting, and establishing the World Snow and Ice Industry Alliance, the WWSE built a high-level international platform to boost the integration and win-win cooperation between the ice and snow industry and related industries such as sports, science and technology, culture & tourism and health. For the effective connection between the high-quality startup projects with the industry capital and the rapid development of new emerging industrial forces, the WWSE, through the "Competition of Ice and Snow Entrepreneurship", helped outstanding startup projects stand out, screened and attracted high-quality startups or projects to settle in China for a continuous expansion of the vital forces of the industry and for the innovative development of the industry. With the help of the "Opinion of Leading Figures in Ice and Snow Industry", the WWSE gathered the world's top experts in various fields of the ice and snow industry, and they combined the current hot industry topics with insights and trend predictions on the current ice and snow industry to provide more valuable insights and references for the development of the industry. Moreover, promoting the cross-provincial and cross-municipal exchanges in the ice and snow industry and driving the expansion of the ice and snow sports to the south, west and east is also one of the important objectives of the WWSE. The conference has set up provincial and municipal pavilion exhibition areas to promote the connection of resources between enterprises and local governments, thus injecting a new driving force into the cross-regional exchanges in China's ice and snow industry and the balanced development of the industrial economy.

The fascinating ice and snow sports and relevant activities stimulate public participation

In order to provide the public with a comprehensive and rich experience of the ice and snow sports, to achieve the popularization of winter sports and the widespread dissemination of the ice and snow culture, the WWSE has designed diverse supporting activities to fully demonstrate the charm and elegance of the ice and snow sports, and to stimulate the public participation. These supporting activities mainly include the Opinion of Leading Figures in Ice and Snow Industry, Public Ice and Snow Experience, Ice Rink Performances and Shows, Ice and Snow Carnival, Public Ice and Snow Shopping Day, Curling Experience, Snow51 Skiing Experience, Winter Sports and Outdoor Equipment Show, and "International Leading Winter Sports Brand - Top 10 Ski Resorts " award ceremony. Such wonderful supporting activities not only provide the best stage for the ice and snow companies and organizations to showcase their products, but also create opportunities for the audience to get closer to the ice and snow world in the city.

Diverse special activities such as the rink performances and shows, curling, mobile polar ice and snow, and virtual video (AR), made the audience feel the fun and charm of the ice and snow sports in advance; in the "Public Ice and Snow Shopping Day" activity, a wide variety of professional sports clothing and apparel, outdoor winter sports equipment, camping and mountaineering equipment, smart wearable devices, sports and leisure fashion products appeared and brought benefits to many ice and snow lovers with attractive prices and quality; the " Winter Sports and Outdoor Equipment Show" brought the audience a feast of the ice and snow fashion in a variety of forms such as catwalk shows, new product launches and interaction between designers and models; and the "Ice and Snow Experience for Teenagers" included the Winter Olympics and winter sports knowledge show, a series of ice and snow sports experiences, and the Winter Olympics knowledge competition to raise the overall awareness of teenagers about the ice and snow culture, and to nurture more future ice and snow talents. In addition, the selection results of the "International Leading Winter Sports Brand - Top 10 Ski Resorts" were announced on the conference site, several brands were seen on the list, including the Wanlong Paradise Resort, Lake Songhua Resort, Thaiwoo Ski Resort, Genting Resort Secret Garden, BDH Ski Resort, Yabuli Sun Mountain Ski Resort, Changbaishan Ski Resort, Silk Road International Ski Resort, Fulong Ski Park, Altay Jiangjunshan Mountain Ski Resort, which became the model industry forces.

During the exhibition, there will be online synchronous live broadcasts of shows and exhibitions, forums, activities and special promotions. Visitors may watch the wonderful exhibition through any one of the platforms, including cloud WWSE app, the official website, the WeChat public account, and the online CIFTIS platform to realize the "Cloud Visiting" and "Cloud Participation" at home.

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

SOURCE IDG World Expo

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