Beijing to host first World Winter Sports Expo

Winter sports lovers in China will enjoy a four-day feast as the city will host the first edition of World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo beginning on Oct 19.

The expo, co-hosted by Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) and International Data Group (IDG), will feature four core exhibitions, including winter sports, games and culture, outdoor and leisure, and interactions. More than 400 exhibitors and 100,000 visitors are expected throughout the expo.

Themed "Opening the Future", this year's expo will be the first edition of the event. It also serves as part of fulfilling the commitment made during the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

"We expect the expo to become one of the largest winter sports events in six years," said Xu Zhou, vice president of IDG Asia.

Organizers expect both visitor numbers and exhibition areas to double by its seventh edition in 2022, when the Winter Olympics is held.

A two-day forum on winter sports will also be held during the expo. Officials and presidents of winter sports associations, including curling, biathlon, bobsled and skeleton, will participate in the forum to discuss the development of winter sports.

"This will be a great platform to promote winter sports products," said Wu Jingmi, secretary-general of BODA. "It will be a big push to develop our winter sports industry."