Q&A: Post-Games legacy boosts sustainable development of China's winter sports

BEIJING -- A post-Games legacy needs to be fully harnessed to promote sustainable development of China's winter sports in its endeavor to build a sporting powerhouse and a healthy country, a spokesperson from China's General Administration of Sport told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

A survey released last week by China's National Bureau of Statistics shows that over 346 million Chinese people have participated in winter sports activities since the country won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Games, meaning that China's vision of "engaging 300 million people in winter sports" has become a reality.

The following is the interview with the spokesperson.

Q1: What progress has China made in cultivating winter sports talents over the past few years? How can we give full play to their talent in making contributions to the sustainable development of winter sports?

Spokesperson: Nearly one-third of the events had not been practised in China when we launched the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. There was also a shortage of athletes, coaches, referees and competition organizations. To achieve the goal of "full participation (in all 109 events)" at Beijing 2022, we started to conduct an extensive talent scout from 2017, recruiting athletes from summer sports like track and field, martial arts and gymnastics. High-level coaches have been hired from overseas. A large pool of more than 4,000 people was set up for the 2022 Winter Olympics and gradually streamlined to around 500. A solid foundation for "full participation" at the Beijing Winter Olympics has been laid.

Chinese athletes are making their final push with the aim of achieving excellence at the Games. Apart from setting up high-level winter sports teams, the General Administration of Sport has also focused on expanding the talent pool of referees and technical specialists. More than 2,000 domestic technical officials and a large number of experts in refrigeration, ice-making and snow grooming have been fostered through training courses, competition internship, and work rotation.

China will create a platform to give the expertise and wisdom of winter sports professionals full play after the Beijing Winter Olympics.

First, reforms will be made in the hosting of major sporting events. The 14th National Winter Games, which has been rescheduled for 2023 in Inner Mongolia, will fully benchmark the 2026 Winter Olympics in the program, venue and facilities, equipment, and rules to discover and select the core team for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The National Games to be held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in 2025 will feature new sports such as roller skating, grass skiing, aerials pool competitions, short track speed skating and figure skating to further promote winter sports in south China.

Secondly, we are looking to actively develop new competitions. Based on the National Championships and other domestic competitions, we will create a brand-new "General Cup" competition for winter sports. We hope to address unbalanced development between different sports and continue to improve our comprehensive strength in winter sports by setting middle- and long-distance team relay competitions and optimizing competition rules.

Thirdly, we will adhere to the "athlete-centered" philosophy and provide support for athletes' career development following their retirement. They are allowed to apply for jobs as coaches, referees, physical education teachers and social instructors once they go through training and assessment of capability. Outstanding retired athletes will be recommended to participate in events of international sports organizations and become integrated into the international winter sports family.

Q2: "Engaging 300 million people in winter sports" is a solemn commitment made by China at the beginning of its bid to the Winter Olympics. What measures has China taken to promote winter sports? How can we maintain the popularity of winter sports in the future?

Spokesperson: Engaging more people in winter sports is an essential task of the Olympic movement. We have taken the Beijing Winter Olympics as a good opportunity to vigorously expand winter sports across China. We provided funds for the construction of public skating venues. Public events such as "National Public Ice and Snow Season", "National Public Ice and Snow Week" and "National Ice and Snow Class" have been held throughout the year.

News and publicity also plays a big part in winter sports promotion. Through television, radio, online and other media, the culture of winter sports has been widely promoted, and with creative cultural products of winter sports, more and more people are aware of the brand of China's winter sports, and public enthusiasm in participating in winter sports has been growing. Over 346 million Chinese people have participated in winter sports up to October 2021, making the goal of "engaging 300 million people in winter sports" a reality. As the Declaration of the 10th Olympic Summit stated, "With 300 million Chinese people engaging with sports on snow and ice, global participation in winter sports will be taken to new levels."

After the Beijing Winter Olympics, based on continuing to organize branded events such as the "National Public Ice and Snow Season", we will keep organizing national fitness conferences at all levels, community sports events, and public competitions across different sports. We will continue to promote winter sports groups among the public to drive people's enthusiasm toward winter sports and push it to new heights across the country. We will continue to improve the usage of cultural, recreational, educational, industrial, commercial and other facilities and resources to provide the public with an eco-friendly and convenient experience on ice and snow. We will further develop winter sports on campus, continue to open winter sports-themed camps, improve the U-series event system for winter sports, and consolidate and enhance the achievements of winter sports development among youths.

We will also increase the financial and public welfare funds to support the development of winter sports, continue to promote the implementation of relevant policies, encourage society and market resources to involve themselves in the winter sports industry, strengthen the safety regulation of the industry, and promote the sustainable development of winter sports after the Games.

As International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach pointed out, "The Beijing Winter Olympic Games will transform the global scene for winter sports". The Beijing Winter Olympics is also a new opportunity for high-quality development of winter sports in China. We will take it as an opportunity to promote a more sustainable, more balanced, and more comprehensive development of winter sports, and contribute to winter sports and the international Olympic Movement.

Q3: How has the construction of ice and snow venues and facilities gone in recent years? How can the country make good use of venues and facilities in the future to promote the sustainable development of winter sports in China?

Spokesperson: As of early 2021, 654 standard ice rinks are in place across China, covering 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities with an increase of 317 percent over the amount in 2015. 803 indoor and outdoor ski resorts cover 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, representing a 41 percent increase from 2015. With venues and facilities in place, the public can access winter sports more easily. The National Winter Sports Training Base in Shougang Park, Erqi Factory Training Base for Ice and Snow Sports, National Ski Jumping Training and Research Base in Laiyuan, Hebei, and Saihanba Ice and Snow Sports Base in Chengde, Hebei, Beishan Four Seasons Ski Resort in Jilin and other venues have been built and put into operation, contributing to China's consistent improvement in its competitive level of winter sports, especially making great contributions to ensure training possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Competition venues such as the National Speed Skating Oval, the National Sliding Center and the National Ski Jumping Center also fill the gap with high-level professional ice and snow venues in China.

After the Beijing Winter Olympics, we will continue to make good use of existing ice and snow facilities. Some venues can accommodate both winter and summer teams to improve efficiency. We will further implement the "Ice and Snow Benefit Program" and open ice and snow venues to the public for free or at low prices. We will strengthen communication and coordination with the International Olympic Committee and international winter sports organizations, and stage international ice and snow events such as the World Championships and World Cup at existing ice and snow venues to continue to attract global attention among winter sports enthusiasts. Furthermore, we will attach importance to the venues' comprehensive utilization by holding cultural leisure, exhibitions, social welfare and other activities in venues with certain conditions to expand winter sports' influence after the Winter Olympics.

Q4: How has China's winter sports industry developed in recent years? How can the country promote high-quality development of the industry?

Spokesperson: China's winter sports industry has enjoyed rapid development thanks to the Beijing Winter Olympics, hitting 520 billion yuan (81.85 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019 compared with 117.7 billion yuan (18.53 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 28.1 percent. With fitness and leisure, competition and performance, venue operation, equipment manufacturing, and ice and snow tourism as key areas, the winter sports industry has taken shape in China, and the concept of "ice and snow is just as valuable as gold and silver" has been widely and deeply practised. Different regions take advantage of their unique locations and resources to develop the winter sports industry, such as the "Beijing-Zhangjiakou Sports and Cultural Tourism Belt", built to serve a coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and an ice-and-snow high-quality development zone created by Jilin and Xinjiang to facilitate coordinated development of the regional economy.

China will speed up its upgrading of the winter sports industry by improving its independent innovation after the Beijing Winter Olympics, with the aim to build up a series of world-leading ice and snow technology enterprises and make the winter sports industry a consistent growth point of China's real economy. We will promote deep integration of the winter sports industry with other sectors such as culture, tourism, healthcare and media. Adhering to the principle of balancing ecological protection and economic growth, we will support Chongli (Hebei), the non-red line area of Changbai Mountains (Jilin), Yabuli (Heilongjiang), Altay (Xinjiang) and other regions to build the ice and snow Silk Road. We will find world-class ice and snow events and resorts to achieve a win-win situation in ecological protection and economic growth, and effectively promote the transformation and upgrading of the local economy.