GISS China has been jointly launched by the FIS and the Chinese Ski Association to help contribute towards the Chinese Government target of having 300 million winter sport participants by the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The programme is managed by FIS Academy, the educational arm of the FIS, and forms part of a broad strategy aimed at creating a "sustainable, easy to access environment to encourage and enable many more active participants in snow sports worldwide”.

FIS say GISS-China will promote skiing and snowboarding through grassroot training, events and social responsibility programmes as well as high-quality content creation and distribution.

Changsha Shangxue Sports, IDG’s operational company, is set to handle the implementation of the programme, including developing a campus course focused on Chinese schools and introducing more children to snow sports.

FIS President Gian-Franco Kasper said GISS China "will undoubtedly serve an important role in developing safe snow sports in China and contribute towards the Chinese Government’s stated aim of introducing 300 million winter sports participants as a legacy for and from the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

"GISS-China is absolutely unique for anything that's on the market at the moment and will greatly extend the capacity and the potential of enabling children, youngsters and beginners to learn to ski and snowboard in a fun, enjoyable environment."

Li Zhang, vice-president of IDG China, added: "IDG Capital and IDG Sports are not only investors in the GISS-China Programme but also the exclusive operator and promoter, and have established a professional team within Changsha Shangxue Sports to carry out the Programme across China.

"We are committed to promoting the sustainable and stable development of snow sports and the snow industry in China in the long-term."