[Correspondent Column] The Chinese Winter Sports Market Is a Blue Ocean

China's Winter Sports Market to Reach 189 Trillion Won by 2025
European Boycott Difficult... Success of Beijing Winter Olympics Is Key

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] The opening of the 24th Winter Olympics in Beijing, China is just 10 days away. It is the fourth Winter Olympics to be held in Asia, following Sapporo and Nagano in Japan, and Pyeongchang in Korea.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency Capture

The Winter Olympics have mainly been held in Europe and North America. Starting with the first Games in France (1924), most were hosted by European and North American countries such as Switzerland, the United States, Germany, Norway, Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia, Canada, and Russia. Among these, the United States has hosted the Winter Olympics four times, France three times, and Norway, Italy, Austria, and Canada twice each.

Climatically, winter sports are popular in the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe and North America. Winter sports also tend to be expensive, often requiring costly equipment. Unlike the Northern Hemisphere, enjoying winter sports in the warmer Southern Hemisphere requires even more money. Developing countries are mostly located in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, the Winter Olympics, a festival of snow and ice, is naturally distant from the Southern Hemisphere. Geographically and economically, winter sports can be considered a festival of the Northern Hemisphere, so-called developed countries. Consequently, outside Europe and North America, the Winter Olympics are not as popular as the Summer Olympics. Since there are fewer people enjoying winter sports, the related markets such as equipment are also not large.

From this perspective, the Beijing Winter Olympics carry significance beyond just hosting the event. Hosting the Winter Olympics implies that China has grown into a country comparable to Asian economic powers like Korea and Japan. While the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics showcased the country's growth, the Winter Olympics embody the pride that all 1.4 billion Chinese people live in a relatively prosperous nation.

On the 4th of next month, ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the state-run Xinhua News Agency cited a report on the development of China's ice and snow industry, reporting that as of 2020, the scale of China's ice and snow industry reached 600 billion yuan (approximately 114 trillion Korean won). This is more than double the 270 billion yuan recorded in 2015. It also forecasted that by 2025, the scale of China's ice and snow industry will reach 1 trillion yuan (189 trillion Korean won).

Xinhua News Agency, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics, reported that since China won the bid for the Winter Olympics in 2015, the number of people enjoying winter sports nationwide has exceeded 346 million. By region, the eastern region has 143 million, the central region 68 million, the western region 84 million, and the northeastern region 51 million.

This is why global sports equipment companies, especially European firms, cannot help but pay close attention to the Beijing Winter Olympics. If a Winter Olympics boom occurs in China, a previously unimagined new market, and a huge one at that, will open. The Chinese winter sports market is a blue ocean for famous overseas brands. Although the United States declared a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, European countries have been reluctant to join.

China's population is 1.4126 billion. Although concerns about population decline and aging have arisen, with last year's birth rate dropping to 0.752%, the lowest since the founding of the country, China remains the world's most populous nation. China's population symbolizes both competitiveness and purchasing power. The Chinese government is confident in successfully hosting the Winter Olympics. However, whether a Winter Olympics boom will lead to the development of China's ice and snow industry remains uncertain. Moreover, winter sports such as skiing are somewhat distant from the concept of common prosperity. It will be interesting to see what China gains after the Winter Olympics.