An aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 17, 2025 shows the main tower at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo: Xinhua)
China has recently been selected to host the International Standard Organization (ISO) technical committee secretariat on artificial ice-and-snow landscapes, the first of its kind in the country's ice and snow sector, according to CCTV News on Monday.
The committee will oversee international standardization efforts covering the safety, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and sustainable development of indoor and outdoor artificial ice-and-snow landscape structures.
Its planned work includes developing foundational standards for terminology, design principles and frameworks, as well as technical standards for construction, safety and protection requirements, and sustainable management systems, per CCTV News.
The establishment of the secretariat in China, according to the report, represents a major breakthrough in the country's international standardization efforts in the ice-and-snow field. This will facilitate the effective integration of China's mature technologies and research outcomes into international standards regarding to the construction, safety management and sustainable development of artificial ice-and-snow landscapes.
By helping overcome seasonal and geographic limitations, the initiative aims to bring ice-and-snow experiences to more people year-round and further boost the global ice-and-snow economy. China will work with ISO members to contribute to the advancement of international standards in this field.
Jiang Yiyi, a tourism and sports expert at Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Monday that China's ice and snow industry, spanning manufacturing, services, culture, sports, tourism, and equipment, has made steady progress, with artificial ice-and-snow landscapes playing an important role in enabling year-round operations beyond the traditional winter-only model.
People have fun at Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 24, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)
According to a report released at the Ice and Snow Tourism Development Forum 2026 in Northeast China's Harbin earlier this year, China's ice-and-snow tourism is entering "a new stage of sustained prosperity," with a record-high 14,075 related enterprises operating in the sector at the end of 2025.
Also, once dominated by northern regions, the ice-and-snow economy has now broken geographical and climatic barriers, reaching places including South China's Guangdong and East China's Zhejiang provinces, with indoor and outdoor ice-and-snow attractions enjoying sustained popularity all year round, according to People's Daily.
China's natural conditions determine that artificial ice-and-snow landscapes form an important foundation for nationwide expansion of ice-and-snow economy as well as global promotion in areas without natural year-round ice and snow, Jiang said. Meanwhile, standardization is vital for China to bolster the industry and play a global role in this field, the expert added.