Austrian companies embrace China's winter sports sector

More Austrian companies are getting involved in China's rapidly growing winter sports market, said Martin Glatz, commercial counselor at the Austrian embassy in Beijing.

"Austria has been trying to be very present in China in the lead up to the Winter Olympics in 2022," said Glatz at the Austrian Winter Sports Days 2019 Conference in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province on Friday.

"Ten years ago when we organized for the first time the Advantage Austria Ski Race, not many people took alpine skiing very seriously. But now skiing has entered the mainstream in China," said Glatz, who is also the head of Advantage Austria Beijing.

China rolled out a national program to boost the development of winter sports after Beijing won the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

"That's an opportunity not only for our Chinese friends to get some fresh air outside the big cities, but also is an opportunity for Austrian companies to get involved with Chinese partners to develop the market and to offer the best of equipment both in terms of consumer goods and in devices," Glatz added.

According to the ambitious plan released by the General Administration of Sport of China in 2016 to construct winter sports infrastructure and popularize winter sports, at least 650 skating rinks and 800 ski resorts are expected to be build nationwide by 2022.

By 2025, about 300 million people in the country are expected to participate in winter sports, increasing the market value of the winter sports sector to 1 trillion yuan.

Driven by multiple momentums, China has witnessed rapid growth in the winter sports industry in recent years, such as venue facilities, training, tourism and equipment sectors, said Peng Weiyong, deputy director general of Finance Department at the General Administration of Sports.

Winter sports has become a booster for China's sports industry and even economic development, Peng added.

By the end of June 2018, the total number of ski resorts in China rose to 738, an increase of 70 or 10.5 percent over the same period in 2017. The number of indoor ice rinks totaled 334, an increase of 75 or 29 percent year-on-year increase. In 2018, 19.7 million people participated in skiing, up 12.6 percent year-on-year.

China is by far Austria's greatest trading partner in Asia, said Friedrich Stift, Austria's ambassador to China.

Bilateral trade between China and Austria reached $6.4 billion in the first eight months of last year, up 20 percent year-on-year, according to the Foreign Ministry. As of August 2018, China has approved 1,288 investment projects from Austria, with an actual investment of $2.08 billion, signed 2,263 technology import contracts with Austria, with a cumulative contract value of $6.23 billion and directly invested $880 million in Austria.

"I'm pleased that a group number of Austrian companies got the chance to take part in the construction of winter sports facilities and to provide the expertise for organizing great sports events like the Olympics," Stift said.

"We are trying hard to get more Austrian ski instructors and trainers to China and the greater number of Chinese winter sports tourists to Austria".

Besides winter sports, Austria is one of the most favorite travel destinations for Chinese tourists for is beautiful landscape, food and shopping. "The growth rate, especially in winter tourism has been phenomenal the last few years," said Glatz.

"Winter is a season when Chinese tourists should go to Austria to experience a very different landscape from what they would see during the dry months in the summer months," added Glatz.

The number of Chinese tourists in Australia might reach one million this year, said Stift.