China Today English Edition – Vol 75 No 02 February 2026 – China Today English Edition

LUNDQUIST China’s Snow Boom: From Olympic Dream to Economic Engine How is a nation’s embrace of snow and ice shaping a new cultural identity and igniting a multi-trillion-yuan economic boom? DRIAAN Smit now cannot imagine a life without snowboarding, a passion that has become central to his world. He is excited to witness how winter sports are fostering a new winter culture in China.

Listening to Smit speaking so enthusiastically about the slopes, one might assume he was raised in a region where snow sports are a way of life, but the fact is quite the con- trary. Smit and his wife moved from South Africa to Changchun, northeast China’s Jilin Province in 2020 to teach at an international high school.

Coming from a land of mild winters, they had never expe- rienced real snow. When their school announced a winter sports outing and offered to arrange coach- ing, Smit confidently declined. “No, we don’t need a coach,” he said – a decision he soon questioned after watching online videos of snowboarders in action. Rather than asking for help, the determined couple spent the following four Saturdays at a nearby ski resort, teaching themselves through trial and error.

It wasn’t long before Smit understood firsthand why the Chinese expression for skiing (ࣂ დhua xue) begins with “ࣂ” (hua, meaning slide). And snow (დ xue), he discovered, was far more slippery than he had ever imagined. After a month of determined practice, Smit had mastered the basics, enough to impress his col- leagues during the school trip.

Two years later, when he and his wife had to leave China during the COVID-19 pandemic, their love for snowboarding endured. Back in South Africa, they ventured to the mountains of the neighboring country Lesotho just to find snow and introduce their family to the sport.

nowned Chinese national brand that makes ceramics used in daily life.” The Group implements a talent-driven strategy and enhances its innovation capabilities to move toward new heights in sci-tech progress and high-quality development. With exquisite craftsmanship and unique designs, the Red Leaf prod- ucts add a vibrant touch to dining culture by combining traditional elements with modern aesthetics. Whether used at family gatherings or high-end banquets, they take users on a cultural journey through time, immersing them in the timeless charm of traditional Chinese culture. No. 66 Hongye Road, Ceramic Industrial Park, Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province Tel: 0798-8437531 Fuliang Tea “Countless people attracted by the pleasant fragrance of the renowned Fuliang Tea came here from around the world.”

Lush Forests Tea Base Porcelain Capital 2 CHINA TODAY China’s economy demonstrated remarkable resilience in 2025, with its GDP exceeding RMB 140 trillion for the first time and achieving a five percent year-on-year growth. This performance marked the suc- cessful conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), during which the country’s economy achieved “four consecutive leaps,” expanding from RMB 110 trillion to 120 trillion, then to 130 trillion, and finally to 140 trillion. As Kang Yi, head of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), noted, the year was defined by pressure-resistant progress and quality- oriented upgrades, with major economic targets met despite complex global and domestic challenges.

The five percent growth in 2025 was hard-won against a backdrop of significant headwinds. Externally, rising geopolitical tensions, trade fragmentation, and volatile commodity prices tested China’s export- oriented sectors. Domestically, imbalances between robust supply and weaker demand persisted, alongside property market adjustments and local government debt pressures. Yet, proactive macro-policies, including more assertive fiscal support and accommodative monetary measures, helped stabilize the economy.

As Kang emphasized, “For a super-large economy like China, achieving such stable development is by no means easy amid intertwined risks and challenges.” International observers acknowledged this resilience as well. Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in an interview with Xinhua, highlighted China’s role as a top contributor to global growth, demonstrating strong resilience amid global headwinds. Simi- larly, the World Bank’s lead economist for China Elitza Mileva pointed to proactive policies – such as pension hikes and childcare subsidies – as key to boosting household consumption by strengthening the social safety net and reducing precautionary savings.

A fundamental shift toward innovation-driven growth was cen- tral to China’s 2025 performance. In 2025, its R&D spending intensity reached 2.8 percent of GDP, surpassing the average of economies in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the first time, while high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufac- turing grew by 9.4 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively, evidently faster than the overall industrial output growth rate of 5.9 percent. Break- throughs in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and green tech- nology were exemplified by output jumps in civil drones (37.3 percent), industrial robots (28 percent), and new energy vehicles (29 percent).

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 9c3a51412320aa87
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 66,557,532 bytes (63.474 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 2084530687, 2084530709
• Pages: 85
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 178.0 minutes
• Total Words: 35,600
• Total Characters: 245,066
• Average Words per Page: 418.82
• Average Characters per Page: 2883.13

Most Frequent Words

china (304), chinese (144), china’s (143), new (115), development (106), snow (103), global (95), cultural (89), also (84), today (81), dqg (79), winter (76), wkh (74), said (74), year (73), international (71), ice (70), ski (70), ing (69), percent (62), province (60), economic (59), people (58), first (58), culture (56), market (55), world (54), national (52), growth (51), economy (51), countries (50), hainan (49), sports (49), rmb (48), industry (47), february (46), city (46), beijing (44), cooperation (43), across (42), life (42), one (42), many (41), trade (41), energy (40), com (39), years (39), innovation (38), including (38), million (38), between (37), tourism (37), two (37), like (36), robots (36), work (36), heritage (36), university (35), foreign (35), green (34), products (34), young (34), president (33), cyprus (33), film (33), now (32), traditional (32), country (32), resort (32), time (31), tion (31), plan (30), service (30), support (29), billion (29), period (29), industrial (28), rural (28), key (27), consumption (27), local (26), become (26), pet (26), visitors (26), village (26), skiing (26), research (25), films (25), services (24), special (24), since (24), climate (24), training (24), free (23), history (23), europe (23), high (23), business (23), areas (23), made (23).

PDF Download