A contestant takes part in the 9th Advantage Austria Ski Race held in Vanke Lake Songhua Resort, Jilin city, Jilin province, on Feb 3, 2018. The event aimed to intensify the cooperation between China and Austria in the areas of winter sports and lifestyle. （Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn）
Last October, at the opening session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed China's sports governing body should take preparing for the 2022 Olympics while raising the profile of winter sports as a top priority.
Although China is a late comer in the winter sports field, about 300 million people in the country are expected to participate in winter sports by 2025, according to China's ambitious plans on constructing winter sports infrastructure and popularizing winter sports.
The plan, released in November 2016, said at least 650 skating rinks and 800 ski resorts are expected to be built across the country by 2022, triggering a one-trillion-yuan ($144.5 billion) winter sports industry by 2025.
