A multibillion yuan winter sports industry is being planned for Hebei province to transform it into a premier destination for cold weather athletes in time for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

More than 30 million residents, or 40 percent of the province's population, are expected to be regularly strapping on their skates and skis by the time the Games come to China, according to the Hebei Provincial Administration of Sport's 8-year Winter Sports Development Plan (2015-22), unveiled recently.

Those percentages could rise to around half the population for the province's coldest cities, where conditions naturally lend themselves to winter sports, the report said.