Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Several Opinions on Stimulating the Vitality of the Ice and Snow Economy through High-Quality Development of Ice and Snow Sports," the original text of which is as follows:

Several Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Stimulating the Vitality of the Ice and Snow Economy through High-Quality Development of Ice and Snow Sports

Guobanfa [2024] No. 49

People's Governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; all ministries and commissions of the State Council, and all institutions directly under the State Council:

In order to consolidate and expand the achievements of "involving 300 million people in ice and snow sports," to use ice and snow sports as a guide to drive the development of the entire ice and snow industry chain, including ice and snow culture, equipment, and tourism, and to promote the ice and snow economy to become a new growth point, the following opinions are hereby put forward with the approval of the State Council.

I. Overall Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee, carry forward the spirit of the Beijing Winter Olympics, firmly establish the concept that ice and snow can also be mountains of gold and silver, and accelerate the construction of a modern ice and snow industry system. By 2027, ice and snow sports venues and facilities will be further improved, service levels will be significantly enhanced, ice and snow sports will be more widely carried out, China's international competitiveness in ice and snow sports will be further enhanced, and the total scale of the ice and snow economy will reach 1.2 trillion yuan. By 2030, the main industrial chains of the ice and snow economy will achieve high-level coordinated and integrated development, playing a more prominent role in expanding employment and promoting high-quality development, ice and snow consumption will become an important growth point for expanding domestic demand, a number of high-quality destinations for ice and snow sports and tourism will be built, the development of the "Ice and Snow Silk Road" and the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Ice and Snow Sports Demonstration Zone will reach a new level, and the total scale of the ice and snow economy will reach 1.5 trillion yuan.

II. Continuously Promoting the Development of Ice and Snow Sports

(1) Widely carrying out mass ice and snow sports. Deeply implement the "Southward, Westward, and Eastward Expansion" strategy for ice and snow sports, and promote the popularization and development of ice and snow sports nationwide. Enrich the content of brand activities such as the "National Mass Ice and Snow Season," deeply explore popular folk traditional ice and snow projects, promote the construction of "one product per place" for mass ice and snow events in a way that suits local conditions, and guide the public to participate in suitable ice and snow sports.

(2) Promoting the development of youth ice and snow sports. Support qualified primary and secondary schools to include ice and snow sports in the special sports projects of physical education and health courses. Carry out "Open Day for Sports Teams" activities, and regularly and orderly open the venue and training resources of ice and snow sports teams at all levels to young people. Establish and improve a youth ice and snow sports competition system, and legally and properly carry out national ice and snow competitions and demonstration activities covering all school levels. Encourage ordinary higher education institutions to tilt their sports recruitment plans towards ice and snow sports, establish high-level ice and snow sports teams in qualified ordinary higher education institutions, and support ordinary higher education institutions to form teams to participate in the National Winter Games.

(3) Improving the competitive level of ice and snow sports. Strengthen training support for ice and snow sports, and do a good job in preparing for and participating in major international ice and snow events such as the Winter Olympics. Establish national youth teams for key ice and snow projects. Encourage social forces such as families, schools, and clubs to cultivate high-level ice and snow athletes. Give full play to the advantages of the national system, promote the sharing and complementary advantages of training, funding, and medical resources in various places, support the construction of high-level ice and snow training bases in places with good ice and snow sports infrastructure conditions such as Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Xinjiang, and increase the cultivation of reserve talents in ice and snow sports. Pay attention to the construction of composite training support teams and improve the scientific training level of sports teams. Support domestic ice and snow sports teams to carry out targeted overseas training and competitions, and hire foreign ice and snow talents for coaching.

(4) Developing the ice and snow sports competition and performance industry. Support qualified areas to bid for and host international ice and snow events. Continue to carry out the "Travel with the Events" activity, promote ice and snow events into scenic areas, streets, and business districts, and lead the development of the ice and snow economy with high-level, high-quality, and safe and orderly events. Scientifically conduct risk assessments for comprehensive ice and snow events, reasonably calculate the required security forces, determine the safe capacity of the venue, and the number of tickets that can be sold (issued) should be no less than 95% of the usable seats in the venue. Encourage qualified areas to develop ice and snow themed tourism and performing arts projects.

III. Improving the Ice and Snow Economy Industry Chain

(5) Promoting coordinated regional development of the ice and snow economy. Construct a spatial layout of the ice and snow economy of "one zone, two belts, and multiple nodes," namely, building a northern ice and snow economic leading zone with international influence in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Xinjiang as the core, building the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Sports and Culture Tourism Belt and the "Ice and Snow Silk Road" with high quality, supporting Beijing Yanqing, Hebei Chongli, Heilongjiang Yabuli, Jilin Changbaishan, Xinjiang Altay, and Ili to build ice and snow economic agglomeration areas with international influence. Encourage areas with conditions to develop the ice and snow economy according to local conditions. Carry out special work on the investigation of basic scientific and technological resources for the ice and snow economy.

(6) Inheriting and developing ice and snow culture. Strengthen the protection and utilization of intangible cultural heritage related to ice and snow, and give full play to the role of intangible cultural heritage projects and inheritors. Encourage qualified areas to build ice and snow culture museums. Give full play to the exemplary role of outstanding athletes and promote the spirit of Chinese sports. Support social forces to create literary and film and television works with ice and snow culture as their theme. Make full use of major ice and snow events such as the 9th Asian Winter Games and the 15th National Winter Games to promote ice and snow culture.

(7) Promoting high-quality development of the ice and snow equipment and materials industry. Focusing on the needs of ice and snow sports and tourism, giving full play to the guiding role of major special funds, organizing collaborative research and development among industry, academia, research, and application, promoting the research and development of a batch of equipment and materials urgently needed for athletes' competition, training, testing, and rehabilitation, and accelerating the breakthrough of key technologies such as cable cars. Strengthen the leading position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, support enterprises to develop a batch of equipment and materials that meet the diversified needs of the people for ice and snow sports. Publish a catalog of excellent ice and snow equipment and materials products. Support qualified areas to build characteristic industrial parks for ice and snow sports equipment and materials. Guide and encourage well-known foreign enterprises to actively carry out investment and cooperation in the field of ice and snow equipment and materials in China.

(8) Optimizing the development of ice and snow tourism. Launch and implement the Ice and Snow Tourism Improvement Plan. Support key areas to conduct surveys of ice and snow tourism resources, build a number of high-quality ice and snow-themed tourist scenic areas and resorts, and optimize and improve national-level ski tourism resorts. Support Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Xinjiang to build 3-5 globally renowned high-quality ice and snow tourism destinations. Support qualified areas to build ice and snow-themed key villages and towns for rural tourism. Improve tourism signs and the tourism information sharing system. Hold events such as the Happy Ice and Snow Tourism Season, and strengthen the promotion of ice and snow tourism at home and abroad.

IV. Improving Infrastructure and Supporting Services

(9) Strengthening the construction of ice and snow venues and facilities. Encourage all localities to make use of parks, trails, city squares, and other public land to build ice and snow venues for the masses according to local conditions and time. Launch a number of ice and snow tourism and ice and snow sports experience bases. Guide social forces to build ice and snow venues by transforming old factories, warehouses, and old commercial facilities. Deeply promote the post-event use and multi-seasonal operation of Winter Olympics venues. Encourage qualified public ice and snow venues to open to the public free of charge or at low fees. Support the inclusion of qualified ice and snow equipment in the scope of large-scale equipment renewal support. Encourage the use of energy-saving technologies to build low-carbon ice and snow venues.

(10) Improving supporting service levels. Strengthen the construction of transportation infrastructure for ice and snow sports venues, improve railway, highway, and civil aviation services, and increase the number of train trips and flights to ice and snow sports destinations. Support pilot programs to provide convenient high-speed rail transportation services for ice and snow sports enthusiasts' equipment.

V. Cultivating and Expanding Ice and Snow Economy Operators

(11) Developing a Batch of Well-known Brands and Leading Enterprises in the Ice and Snow Field. Strengthen inter-departmental coordination and central-local collaboration, encourage localities to develop ice and snow scenarios and industrial clusters based on local conditions, support large enterprise groups in the ice and snow field to integrate high-quality domestic and international resources, and plan global development to create a batch of leading enterprises and high-level ice and snow comprehensive operation service providers, and cultivate several ice and snow brands with world-renowned reputation.

(12) Cultivating a Batch of Specialized, Refined, and Unique Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Ice and Snow Field. Give full play to the role of small and medium-sized enterprise development funds and special funds, guide ice and snow culture and tourism enterprises, ice and snow sports enterprises, and ice and snow equipment enterprises to accelerate digital, networked, intelligent, and green transformation, and cultivate a batch of specialized, refined, and unique small and medium-sized enterprises in the ice and snow field. Support small and medium-sized enterprises to focus on their advantageous fields and cultivate them deeply, targeting segmented markets or specific customer groups, developing specialized technologies and unique processes, and providing characteristic services.

(13) Actively Cultivating Ice and Snow Sports Organizations. Guide social forces to standardize the establishment of ice and snow sports clubs and ice and snow sports training institutions. Encourage places with conditions to establish ice and snow sports associations to enrich the supply of ice and snow sports services.

VI. Promoting and Expanding Ice and Snow Consumption

(14) Enriching Ice and Snow Consumption Products. Guide places with mature conditions to innovate ice and snow consumption models, integrate local snow field resources, and launch combination tickets, season tickets, ski accommodation packages, etc., with rich forms and optional content. Support various places to give full play to the spillover effect of ice and snow events and organize ice and snow consumption seasons and other commercial, tourism, cultural, sports, and health integration activities to promote consumption.

(15) Optimizing the Ice and Snow Consumption Environment. Establish an evaluation system for the quality of ice and snow consumption products and services. Optimize ice and snow consumption payment services and improve payment convenience. Strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of ice and snow consumers, and support localities in establishing a pre-payment system for compensation for ice and snow sports and ice and snow tourism consumption. Guide various places to improve mechanisms for dealing with large passenger flows during peak periods. Guide insurance institutions to innovate and develop ice and snow-related insurance products.

(16) Improving the Ice and Snow Standard System. Actively guide all sectors of society to participate in the construction of ice and snow standardization, improve the standardization level of ice and snow venue and facility construction and operation, equipment and materials, and tourism services. Strengthen the implementation and application of ice and snow standards, promote standard testing, certification, and internationalization, and improve the quality of ice and snow sports services.

VII. Strengthening the Guarantee of Elements of the Ice and Snow Economy

(17) Strengthening the Construction of Ice and Snow Talent Teams. Establish ice and snow sports colleges based on existing universities. Support universities and vocational schools with conditions to offer related majors in ice and snow sports and ice and snow economy, and create production-education integration training bases. Strengthen vocational training and higher education for ice and snow practitioners, and promote the inclusion of ice and snow-related occupations in the national occupational qualification directory in accordance with laws and regulations. Guide and support retired athletes of ice and snow projects who meet the employment conditions to engage in ice and snow sports education and training. Support the introduction of international coaches and management personnel for ice and snow projects and simplify entry visa procedures.

(18) Increasing Financial Support. Encourage financial institutions, under the premise of compliance with laws and regulations and controllable risks, to innovate financial products, increase credit lending to ice and snow enterprises, and optimize credit rating, credit approval, approval, and post-loan management processes. Further broaden financing channels, support eligible ice and snow enterprises to go public and refinance, issue bonds, and securitize assets. Encourage localities with conditions to effectively reduce the financing costs of ice and snow enterprises through loan interest subsidies, policy-based guarantees, and risk compensation.

(19) Strengthening the Guarantee of Land Use for Ice and Snow. Encourage localities with conditions, on the basis of complying with the overall national land spatial plan, to focus on meeting the land use needs of the ice and snow economy and reasonably arrange spatial layout. Incorporate the land use needs of the ice and snow economy into the detailed national land spatial plan and the "one-map" implementation and supervision information system for national land spatial planning. Strengthen the land use guarantee for ice and snow economy projects in the annual plan indicators for newly added construction land, and prioritize the allocation of land for the construction of ice and snow economy projects. Support the use of collectively-owned commercial construction land to legally construct ice and snow economy projects. Encourage land supply through long-term leasing, leasing first and then transfer, and a combination of leasing and transfer. Encourage localities to combine the redevelopment of inefficient urban land to promote the revitalization of existing land to support the construction of ice and snow venues and facilities. Support localities in constructing ice and snow economy projects on the premise of adhering to intensive land use, saving water and energy, and strictly protecting natural forests.

VIII. Deepening External Cooperation in the Ice and Snow Economy

(20) Building a High-level International Ice and Snow Exchange and Cooperation Platform. Taking the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Ice and Snow Sports Demonstration Zone and the construction of the "Ice and Snow Silk Road" as opportunities, create a new platform for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation for the SCO and countries participating in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road". Cultivate independent brand international ice and snow events, build high-level international training bases, and increase the international exchange and training of professional and technical personnel such as referees and coaches.

(21) Constructing an International Ice and Snow Economic Cooperation Platform. Support the establishment of ice and snow special zones or the holding of related activities at the China International Import Expo and the China International Fair for Trade in Services. Encourage Chinese ice and snow products and services to go global and implement the "China Ice and Snow Welcomes the World Plan." Encourage border regions such as Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Xinjiang to carry out cross-border ice and snow events, ice and snow tourism, and other friendly folk exchanges to strengthen the bonds of ice and snow cultural exchanges.

IX. Strengthening Service Guarantees

(22) Improving Statistical Mechanisms. Strengthen the research on the statistical scope of the ice and snow economy, conduct regular monitoring around ice and snow sports, ice and snow culture, ice and snow equipment, and ice and snow tourism, and strengthen data statistical analysis.

(23) Strengthening Safety Management. Strengthen the safety management of ice and snow sports venues, ice and snow amusement venues, ice and snow events, and ice and snow equipment and facilities, formulate specific emergency plans, urge venue operators and event organizers to effectively fulfill their main safety responsibilities, implement standardized safety management, and strengthen the supervision of the quality and safety of ice and snow venue engineering. Improve the risk management and emergency rescue system in the ice and snow field, strengthen emergency rescue forces, equip necessary equipment and materials, strengthen training and drills, strengthen safety education for participants in ice and snow sports, and ensure the safe development of the ice and snow economy.

(24) Strengthening Organizational Leadership. Further improve political standing, fully understand the importance of developing the ice and snow economy and promoting ice and snow consumption, strengthen responsibility and accountability, strengthen communication and coordination, carefully study and promptly resolve difficulties and problems in the development of the ice and snow economy, and promote the high-quality development of the ice and snow economy.

State Council Office

October 31, 2024

(This document has been abridged)