Finnish officials have high hopes for winter sports know-how export to China

HELSINKI - Finland hopes this year witnesses a boost for export of winter sports equipment and know-how to China, as the Asian country is gearing up for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Finnish officials said recently.

This year marks the China-Finland Winter Sport Year and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto will attend the opening of the themed year on Jan 15 during his two-day state visit to China.

In Finland, a kick-off for the themed year took place Thursday at the Kisakallio sports training center in Lohja,in the southern part of the country.

Addressing the event, Tiina Kivisaari, director at the division of sports at Ministry of Education and Culture, described Kisakallio as an front-runner in sports cooperation with China, local newspaper Lansi-Uusimaa reported.

Business Finland, the official export promotion organization, has organized a winter sports cluster involving public and private sports industry.

In the coming years the Sports Cluster Program aims to expand expertise and products of Finnish sports industry to China, according to Petri Tulensalo, head of the program.

Finland boasts the world's leading expertise in winter sports, and in addition to knowledge and training, it can offer innovative and energy-efficient solutions to China's huge market, said Tulensalo.

Over 70 events will be arranged in China this year, according to Tulensalo.

Finland is an attractive location for training in snow sports. Chinese ski-jumpers are trained in Kuopio and cross country skiers in Vuokatti, both in central Finland.