China Winter Sports Industry: Growth and Challenges Ahead for SMEs

While Beijing 2022 is happening, together with the EU SME Centre we held the hybrid workshop “Beijing Winter Olympics: what’s next?” on February 16th at Intercontinental Beijing and online. 

During this workshop, we discussed China's plans and directions for the development of the winter sports industry. 

What are the opportunities for EU SMEs? Ms. Zhang Li, Vice President of Asia Digital Group presented a detailed industry analysis discussing trends in a variety of fields ranging from retail to infrastructure and training. The growth of the industry is supported by a rich policy framework aiming at expanding the scale and layout of China’s winter sports industry together with sports and leisure overall. However, barriers arose due to COVID-19 impacting – among others – equipment companies.

What are the main challenges? Mr. Justin Downes, President of Axis Leisure Management (Beijing) discussed how categories like tourism and retail are industry target areas. The potential of the industry remains untapped. The main challenges remain in infrastructure, sustainability, and facility upgrade. Among the challenges for SMEs, is the need for a strategic review of supply chains to meet the demand and be prepared for an uncertain future.

A Panel Discussion with industry leaders - Prinoth AG, Vepe Oy Peltonen China, Snowelan Sport Development - concluded the workshop. The panelist presented case studies on current projects their companies are developing, identifying trends like digitalization as key in the industry future in China. 

The CICC Team