MK sports Korea northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 5, 2025. The 41st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival kicked off here on Sunday with the theme Dream of Winter, Love among Asia. (Photo by Liu Yang/Xinhua)" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-12-23/ca9147e7-4f2f-47b1-82c2-c9aeb2f22f24.jpeg" />

A visitor poses for photos at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 5, 2025. The 41st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival kicked off here on Sunday with the theme "Dream of Winter, Love among Asia." (Photo by Liu Yang/Xinhua)

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, will actively incorporate the ice and snow economy into the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), an NDRC official said at a roundtable held by the Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

Peng Fuwei, deputy director general of the Department of Social Development of the NDRC, said at the event on Wednesday that the commission will prioritize supporting the development of the ice and snow economy through planning, policy and funding, and actively incorporate relevant content into the country's 15th Five-Year Plan.

He said that policies and funding will be directed toward regions with prominent ice and snow sports resources, such as Changbai Mountain, in Northeast China's Jilin Province, Yabuli in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, and Altay, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to help them become high-quality outdoor ice and snow sports destinations.

Peng noted that central budget investments will continue to support the construction of public service facilities for ice and snow sports and tourism, and eligible ice and snow tourism equipment will be included in the range of equipment upgrades that receive support of long-term special bonds.

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday that incorporating the ice and snow economy into the 15th Five-Year Plan will provide strong policy support and guarantees for its development. 

"The ice and snow sector is expected to become a new growth point for China's economy, promoting the coordinated development of related industries and injecting new vitality into China's economic and social development," Wang said.

During the just-concluded Spring Festival holiday, various ice and snow activities across the country thrived, transforming winter resources into economic opportunities.

According to data from the travel platform Trip.com, popular cities for ice and snow tourism included Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province, Beijing, and Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, with visitors primarily coming from southern cities. 

The Harbin Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism revealed that during this year's Spring Festival, the combination of the ice and snow tourism boom and the 9th Asian Winter Games led to a 20.4 percent year-on-year increase in total visitors to the city, with total spending rising by 16.6 percent. Notably, the number of visitors from outside the province increased by 41.9 percent, and inbound tourists surged by 144.7 percent, according to Xinhua.

The bustling Harbin Ice-Snow World said on its official WeChat account on Tuesday that during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday, the theme park received 610,000 visitors in total. The number of visitors entering the park on February 1 exceeded 100,000, setting a new single-day record.

Data from Fliggy sent to the Global Times on Wednesday indicated that popular skiing destinations such as the Lake Songhua Resort in Jilin Province and the Yabuli Ski Resort in Heilongjiang Province saw hotel bookings double compared with last year.

The Yabuli Ski Resort is the cradle of competitive skiing and ski resorts in China, and will also host the snow events of the 2025 Asian Winter Games. 

Wang said that the development of the entire ice and snow economy chain will drive growth in multiple related industries. The ice and snow economy encompasses various fields, including sports, tourism, equipment and culture, each of which will stimulate the growth of related sectors.

"The popularization of ice and snow sports boosts fitness, training and event organizing. It promotes tourism-related sectors, improves infrastructure, and accelerates ice and snow equipment manufacturing. Themed cultural activities will become new cultural consumption hotspots, fueling the cultural industry's prosperity," Wang added.

China aims to promote its ice and snow economy as a new growth point, with the goal of reaching a scale of 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027, according to the guidelines issued by the General Office of the State Council, Xinhua reported.

By 2027, the facilities for ice and snow sports will be more complete, the service level will be significantly improved, ice and snow sports will be carried out more widely, and China's international competitiveness in these sports will be further enhanced, according to the guidelines published in November.

By 2030, the role of the ice and snow economy in expanding employment and promoting high-quality development will become more prominent, and the sector will become an important growth point for expanding domestic demand. The scale of the ice and snow economy is expected to reach 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030, the guidelines said.