China's ice and snow tourism fuels winter economy, with Heilongjiang attracting 135m visitors

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 5, 2025, shows visitors having fun at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The 41st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival kicked off here on Sunday with the theme "Dream of Winter, Love among Asia." (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei)

China's ice and snow tourism remains a key driver of the winter economy, with Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province reporting 135.08 million domestic and international visitors during the winter season - from November 8, 2024 to February 28, 2025 - an 18.5 percent increase from the previous year, China Media Group reported on Sunday.

Tourist spending in the province reached 211.72 billion yuan ($29.19 billion) during the period, up 30.7 percent from the previous year, according to the report.

Visitors from outside the province totaled 36.57 million, making up 27.1 percent of arrivals and rising by 49.5 percent year-on-year.

According to data from the China Tourism Academy, the 2024-25 ice and snow season is estimated to have drawn 520 million tourist visits nationwide, a year-on-year increase of about 21 percent. Revenue from ice and snow tourism is estimated to have surpassed 630 billion yuan, reflecting a 20 percent year-on-year increase.

Regions across China have been introducing targeted policies to strengthen the ice and snow tourism sector, enhancing efforts to drive winter economic growth.

On February 20, Heilongjiang announced the implementation of visa-free policies for China-Russia cross-border tourist groups, representing a significant step in the province's push to enhance cross-border tourism.

Heilongjiang welcomed 882,000 inbound tourists in the 2024-25 snow season, a 103.9 percent year-on-year surge. Their spending totaled 9.87 billion yuan, reflecting a 117.5 percent year-on-year rise.

Chongli district, the host of snow sports events during the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, remains a top-tier winter tourism hub. In 2024, Chongli in Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei Province, attracted 8.54 million visitors, generating 9.55 billion yuan in tourism revenue, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The local tourism sector of Chongli has undergone upgrades, with improvements in ski instruction, equipment rentals, lifestyle retail areas, and cultural performances. In terms of visitor demographics, travelers from the surrounding Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region accounted for 70 percent of the total.

Northeast China's Jilin Province has rolled out measures to drive the high-quality growth of its ice and snow economy.

By the 2029-30 snow season, Jilin aims to receive 300 million tourists, generate 540 billion yuan in revenue, and achieve 5 billion yuan in ice and snow equipment manufacturing output, the Guangming Daily reported.

The booming 2024-25 ice and snow season in Heilongjiang underscored the success of China's winter economy, by integrating resources, optimizing allocation, enhancing cross-regional cooperation, and improving infrastructure. Further growth opportunities can be unlocked, Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Zhang emphasized that efficient resource integration and innovation are key. The rapid growth of the ice and snow economy proves the success of these efforts.

Zhang also suggested enhancing north-south coordination and leveraging regional culture, as winter is off-season in the south, while it is peak season in the north.