This enchanting view shows trees blanketed in crystal clear rime on Sifang Mountain, in Tonghua city, Jilin province. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

Development visions for the culture and tourism sector of Northeast China's Jilin province were recently set out for 2023 – released during the Jilin Provincial Culture and Tourism Work Conference held on Feb 18 in Changchun, the provincial capital.

The event also reviewed Jilin's progress in its culture and tourism sector in 2022, with major indicators continuing to grow.

Last year the market share, product sales and the total number of tourists and enthusiasts handled by Jilin's ice and snow sector ranked first in the country.

Rural tourism in the province experienced a boom. The numbers of national rural tourism key villages and towns, as well as provincial rural tourism boutique villages surged – by 25 percent and 131.6 percent, respectively. A total of 25 routes were selected as "National Top 100 Rural Tourism Routes" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, ranking Jilin first in Northeast China.

The region's industrial foundations have continued to be consolidated and 141 cultural and tourism projects were constructed throughout the year.

In the current year, the province will fully implement 10 major projects – including tourism industry acceleration projects, ice and snow industry expansion and quality improvement projects and cultural heritage protection projects.

Currently, the province's cultural tourism system has plans for 1,071 projects in the coming years with a total investment of 1.01 trillion yuan ($146.3 billion), involving a range of fields in the cultural tourism industry.

Of these, 160 projects included in this year's construction plan have all met the requisite conditions to start construction.