Construction firms and equipment manufacturers flocked to the expo to show off their latest projects, including Eternal Star Ice and Snow Technology Co. Ltd.

The Chinese company owns Asia's biggest ice and snow equipment factory in Tianjin and built the world's biggest indoor ski resort in Wandamao Snow Amusement Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.

"Years ago, the cost of building ice and snow venues and facilities was very high because many materials and components had to be imported and we had to invite foreign experts to China for installation," said Jiang Jingen, the COO of Eternal Star Ice and Snow.

"We have to have our own technologies and manufacture our own products, otherwise we cannot have the true development of the industry. After years of development and technology breakthroughs, we built the world's biggest indoor ski resort of 80,000 square meters in China."

Another huge challenge for Beijing 2022 and China's winter industry ambitions is the lack of talent.

"The development of winter sports in China started very late with a weak foundation, which is evidenced by not only our competitive sports performance but also the lack of talent for event organizing," said Yang, of the 2022 organizing committee.

"Although the Beijing organizing committee has been recruiting and training talent, more are needed. For example, the volunteers for skiing events need to acquire excellent skiing skills to handle all sorts of emergencies that could happen during the Games, and those volunteers are not easy to find in China."

Yang added that a number of China's top winter sports athletes have joined the organizing committee, with some, including world champion speed skater Wang Beixing and curler Wang Bingyu, given managerial roles.

shifutian@chinadaily.com.cn