(Yicai Global) Feb. 10 -- Sales of goods related to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games have been booming, with licensed merchandise seeing a more than 20-fold surge during the Chinese New Year online shopping festival compared with a year ago.

The winter sports economy has grown substantially, according to commerce ministry data. Sales of ski equipment and skiwear soared 63 percent and 61 percent, respectively, while online sales of skiing tickets doubled, and orders of ice and snow tourism products on e-commerce platforms jumped 30 percent, the ministry said at a press conference today.

Last year, prompted partly by the impact of Covid-19 on shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, the ministry initiated an online shopping festival that included promotions over the Chinese New Year. This year’s event ran from Jan. 10 to Feb. 7.

The ministry did not reveal overall sales figures for this year’s shopping festival, but noted some of the hot-selling items. Sales of smart projectors, smart massagers and television sets of 65-inches and above climbed 90 percent, 34 percent, and 21 percent. Sales of cultural heritage-related products also saw a notable surge.

Products based on the Beijing 2022 mascot Bing Dwen Dwen and other Olympics-related goods have been in short supply since the games opened on Feb. 4. Revenue from licensed merchandise will exceed CNY2.5 billion (USD393.2 million) during the period, according to a forecast by Shanxi Securities.

Editor: Tom Litting