Beijing Winter Sports: One Year after the Olympics

On Tuesday, February 28th, the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the EU SME Centre, held the webinar: One Year after the Beijing Olympics: China's Winter Sport Sector Opportunities for EU SMEs.

The webinar aimed at giving an overview of the winter sports industry, new trends, and opportunities one year after the Beijing Winter Olympics and helping SMEs interested in the Chinese market.

The event was opened with welcoming words from Renzo Isler, Secretary General of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Jesse Wang from Business Finland, Robert Strob from Advantage Austria, and Helika Jürgenson, former Training Manager at EU SME Centre.

For the occasion, we invited the Executive Vice President at Asia Digital Group, Ms Li Zhang, to provide an overview of the current status of the winter sports industry, which has experienced significant growth in recent years. Ms Zhang ended with an optimistic forecast for the future of China's winter sports industry development.

Ms Zhang's presentation was followed by a two-panel discussion moderated by Juha Tuominen, Chairman of FinnCham Beijing.

For the first panel, we welcomed Remigio Brunelli, Managing Director of Beijing Tecnica Sports Equipment Co., Ltd.; Xing Shi, from Suomen Biathlon Oy; Yanh Li, General Manager of Sanhe Doppelmayr Transport Systems Co., Ltd.; and Andy Niu, from Vepe Oy Peltonen. During the roundtable, our speakers focused on challenges and opportunities related to the sector, underlining how the winter sports market didn't end with the Olympics. There are many opportunities today in this sector; finding the right partner, bringing innovation, and knowing the market are the go-to to succeed.

For the second panel, we invited Mr Li Yi, General Manager of Snow&Ice Center, Sunac Tourism Group, Mr Florian Hajzeri, General Manager of TechnoAlpin China, and Ms Wendy Luo from Vuokatti Sport Resort Oy to talk about the impact of Covid-19 and future trends in the market.

They remarked that despite the effects of Covid-19, the numbers for 2023 are positive, the market is significant, and it is necessary to establish a local presence and understand the background and culture to do business in China successfully.

For more information, contact us at bj.events@cameraitacina.com.