New Zealand Winter Games officials welcome Chinese snow athletes

New Zealand Winter Games officials are preparing to welcome Chinese skiers to train in the country during the northern summers in the run-up to the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

The memorandum of understanding signed by the Winter Games NZ Trust and the Chinese Ski Association (CSA) was a ground-breaking agreement with far-reaching significance for snow sports in New Zealand, Winter Games NZ officials said Wednesday.

The CSA will use New Zealand as its training and competition base during the northern hemisphere summers from 2017 until 2021, under the memorandum.

"This is a momentous step for snow sports in New Zealand. In fact it is most unusual anywhere in the world to have a sporting organization achieving a memorandum of understanding with a national sports body," Winter Games NZ CEO Arthur Klap said in a statement.

China was making a major investment into its ski industry and had a target of 30 million skiers and snowboarders by 2021.

The biennial Winter Games NZ events would be pivotal for promoting leading athletes in China.

"The CSA will also assist us in obtaining broadcast coverage on CCTV (China Central Television) in China during our events and in return we will help with training opportunities for Chinese snow sports teams, and provide advice and on the ground support for the organization of snowboard and freestyle World Cups, leading up to the Beijing Winter Olympics," said Klap. Endit