STORY: China's winter economy snowballing as sports event, cultural tourism fuel public passion
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: Feb. 5, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:26
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ECONOMY/SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of China's winter economy
2. various of China's Harbin
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): DAI BIN, President of the China Tourism Academy
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): AI YU, General Administration of Sport of China
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): PENG FUWEI, National Development and Reform Commission

STORYLINE:

Harbin, capital city of China's northernmost Heilongjiang Province, is the host city for the 9th Asian Winter Games.

The city is welcoming an influx of spectators from around the world, becoming one of the most popular travel destinations this winter.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): DAI BIN, President of the China Tourism Academy
"From the snowflakes in Harbin, I hope to see the 'blossom' of China's tourism industry. What is behind this 'blossom'? How to nourish it? Sincerity, goodwill and warmth, these are the most important things, to truly build an individual-friendly ice-and-snow tourism city and cultivate a number of ice-and-snow tourism cities and blocks with profound cultural heritage and distinctive cultural characteristics."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): AI YU, General Administration of Sport of China
"When we develop the sports event economy, we should still pay attention to creating a better environment, optimizing the environment, providing better services and creating more service scenarios while engaging in events. We should promote the development of the sports event economy by creating a better environment."

China has also aimed to boost its ice and snow economy as a new growth sector, targeting an economic scale of 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027 and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030, according to guidelines issued by the General Office of the State Council in November 2024.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): PENG FUWEI, National Development and Reform Commission
"The development of the ice-and-snow economy has not only turned 'cold resources' into 'hot industries,' but also injected strong impetus into economic growth. With the participation of more and more people, the ice-and-snow economy is gradually becoming a new economic growth area."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)