1. Introduction to the Project

1.1 Project background

1.1.1 Product introduction

This project covers an area of 182000 square meters and is based on clean geothermal new energy core resources, with high-quality ecological resources of Changbai Mountain as its soul, driven by creative innovation, and supported by the construction of a new industry guidance that serves the four season characteristic tourism industry of Changbai Mountain. It aims to create a unique hot spring health and wellness complex project in Chixi District that integrates leisure and wellness, tourism services, urban operation, business services, smart innovation, geothermal scientific research, geothermal application, agricultural planting, modern agricultural deep processing, and agricultural industrialization upgrading functions.

1.1.2 Market prospect

(1) Overview of the development of hot spring vacation

Hot springs are a resource with strong tourism development value, and hot spring tourism is an important tourism product developed based on hot spring resources. By attracting tourists to experience hot springs, relax their body and mind, and immerse themselves in nature, it achieves the goals of leisure, health preservation, and vacation. In recent years, the hot spring resort industry in China has shown a thriving development trend, with its market size continuously expanding and firmly occupying a place in the tourism market, becoming a key force leading the new trend of leisure vacation. With the profound transformation of the national health concept and the enthusiastic longing for a high-quality lifestyle, hot spring vacations are attracting an unprecedented trend of tourists with their unique charm of integrating natural healing, health preservation, and ultimate leisure experience. In 2023, the revenue of China’s hot spring resort industry reached 288.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 94.67%.

The upstream of the hot spring resort industry chain mainly includes the development and supply of hot spring resources, building materials (such as cement and glass), furniture, water treatment equipment, hot spring pumps, pipeline systems, etc. The midstream of the industrial chain mainly refers to the construction and operation of hot spring resorts. The downstream of the industrial chain directly faces consumers, including individual consumers and enterprise units. Individual consumers are the main customer group of hot spring resorts, who enjoy hot spring baths, accommodation, catering, conferences, fitness, entertainment and other services through the resort. Enterprise units may collaborate with resorts for business purposes, such as organizing conferences, training, and other activities.

With the improvement of people’s living standards and the increasing pursuit of health preservation and leisure experience, the hot spring resort industry is ushering in new development opportunities.

Firstly, in recent years, the market concentration of China’s hot spring resort industry has gradually increased, and large-scale hot spring resort projects continue to emerge. Famous brands and enterprises have begun to occupy market share, forming a certain brand effect and scale effect. In the future, this trend will become even more apparent. With the intensification of market competition, branding will become the key to enhancing the competitiveness of hot spring resorts. Brand enterprises will further consolidate their market position and attract more consumers by optimizing services, innovating products, and strengthening marketing.

Secondly, consumers’ demand for hot spring vacations is becoming increasingly personalized and diversified. In the future, hot spring resorts will pay more attention to product innovation and service upgrades. In addition to traditional hot spring soaking, diversified elements such as SPA, massage, swimming, fitness, water park, and parent-child activities will also be integrated to meet the needs of different consumers. At the same time, personalized and customized services will also become mainstream, providing tourists with more accurate recommendations and services through big data analysis of consumers’ consumption habits and preferences.

Meanwhile, the rapid development of technology has brought new opportunities to the hot spring resort industry. In the future, hot spring resorts will actively use technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to improve service quality and tourist experience. Improve operational efficiency and service level through intelligent devices and management systems; By analyzing tourists’ consumption habits and preferences through big data, we provide more accurate recommendation services for them. Meanwhile, intelligent facilities and services will also provide tourists with a more convenient and comfortable travel environment.

Finally, the integration of multiple business formats is an inevitable trend in the design of modern hot spring resorts. By introducing diverse experiential projects such as health preservation, food culture, cultural experiences, and parent-child entertainment, it can meet the multi-level needs of tourists and enhance overall competitiveness. Hot spring resorts will no longer be just places to soak in hot springs, but comprehensive vacation destinations that integrate leisure, health preservation, entertainment, culture, and other functions. This multi format integration design not only enriches the vacation content, but also enhances tourists’ sense of participation and experience.

(2) The current situation of health tourism

According to the National Health and Wellness Tourism Demonstration Base Standards, health and wellness tourism is defined as the sum of various tourism activities that enable people to achieve a natural and harmonious state of mind, body, and spirit through various means such as beauty and fitness, nutritious diet, mental cultivation, and environmental care.

From the perspective of the industry chain, the health tourism industry chain includes upstream real estate development investment, planning and construction, midstream health tourism project operators, and downstream project promotion channel providers. The lifecycle of health tourism projects roughly extends along the chain of "development planning design construction operation".

Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, the policy support for the health and wellness tourism industry has reached its peak. In June, 2021, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the 14th Five Year Plan for Cultural and Tourism Development, which clearly stated the development of health and wellness tourism and the promotion of the construction of national health and wellness tourism demonstration bases.

With the development of China’s economy and society, the improvement of people’s living standards, and the increasing demand for health and physical fitness among the population, China will enter an aging society, and the aging problem will become increasingly severe. At present, 70% of the population in China is in a sub-healthy state, the elderly population over 60 years old accounts for 21% of the population, 15% of the population is in a diseased state, and there are over 400 million middle-class people pursuing a high-quality life, all of which provide a huge market for health tourism.

In recent years, with people’s increasing emphasis on healthy living, the “big health” industry is rapidly entering a new round of growth. As a health tourism that combines tourism and the “big health” industry, it has a favorable market environment and is a blue ocean market with huge development space. According to the compilation instructions of the Service Guidelines for Health and Wellness Tourism Institutions (Draft for Comments) released by the National Tourism Standardization Technical Committee in May, 2022, the average annual compound growth rate from 2015 to 2019 was as high as about 20%. From 2020 to 2022, due to the global spread of the pandemic, people’s travel has been affected, and the overall operation of the tourism industry is not good. The health tourism market has also been significantly affected. Starting from 2023, there will be a gradual recovery, the size of China’s health and wellness tourism market is expected to reach nearly 90 billion yuan in 2023.

In the future, the health and wellness tourism market will usher in new developments. On the one hand, the business models of health and wellness tourism will become more diverse. Tourism formats featuring traditional Chinese medicine health tourism, hot spring tourism, forest ecological tourism, and health and wellness sports tourism will be favored by the silver haired generation, and more new products and services will be adapted to meet the needs of the elderly population; on the other hand, health and wellness tourism will place more emphasis on experiential experiences, and the application of smart devices designed for aging will become more mature.

(3) The current situation and development of tourism in Jilin Province

Jilin Provincial Party Committee and Government attach great importance to the high-quality development of the tourism industry, and have issued multiple policies in recent years to support the development of the tourism industry. The Department of Culture and Tourism of Jilin Province has also formulated development plans for sub-sectors such as general aviation tourism, industrial tourism, and ecotourism.

Jilin not only has vast forests and rich ethnic customs, but also waterfalls, lakes, rivers, bays, streams, plateau peaks, wetlands, beaches, forests, grasslands, rime snow fields, snow villages, hot springs, and the border city of Hunchun. It offers a stunning view of the three countries at a glance. The popular tourist routes in Jilin include ice and snow tourism routes, Changbai Mountain tourism routes, Korean ethnic characteristic tourism routes, border tourism routes, summer resort tourism points, etc. As of the end of May, 2024, the total number of A-level scenic spots in Jilin Province has reached 303, including 8 5A level scenic spots and 89 4A level scenic spots. These A-level scenic spots in Jilin Province not only cover various aspects such as natural scenery, historical culture, and folk customs, but also include multiple tourist resorts with local characteristics, forest parks, museums, etc., providing tourists with rich cultural and natural experiences.

Jilin Province has 8 prefecture level cities and 1 autonomous prefecture under its jurisdiction. Among them, Tonghua City has the highest number of A-level tourist attractions, with 62 A-level scenic spots as of May, 2024. The tourism characteristics of Tonghua City, Jilin Province are mainly reflected in its rich cultural heritage, natural scenery, ice and snow sports, and red tourism. The second largest number of A-level tourist attractions is Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, with 56 A-level tourist attractions, among which the typical representative is Changbai Mountain Scenic Area.

(4) Current situation of tourism in Changbai Mountain

Changbai Mountain Hot Springs belong to high-temperature volcanic self overflow hot springs, with spring water temperatures mostly above 60 degrees Celsius, and the hottest ones reaching over 80 degrees Celsius. In winter, the hot springs are surrounded by ice and snow, while the hot springs are steaming hot. The warm water vapor emitted from the hot springs condenses on the surrounding vegetation, often forming a unique rime effect, which gives the Changbai Mountain hot springs a unique scenery. Spring water contains a high amount of hydrogen sulfide gas. This type of hot spring, which contains substances such as hydrogen sulfide, calcium, and magnesium, has high medical value and is effective in treating skin diseases, arthritis, rheumatism, and other conditions.

Changbai Mountain already has certain health and wellness facilities and services. For example, the Linxi Volcano Hot Spring Project in Changbai Mountain Peace Tourism Resort provides various pools and leisure facilities, with a maximum daily reception capacity of nearly 3000 people. In addition, Changbai Mountain is also striving to build summer resorts, ice and snow tourism destinations, hot spring health resorts, etc., promoting the transformation of ecological value and turning “green mountains and clear waters” into “invaluable assets”.

In the future, Changbai Mountain will continue to improve its tourism service facilities, create a comprehensive health and leisure resort, and promote the development of the ecotourism and health care industry.

In 2023, Changbai Mountain Scenic Area received a total of 2.74 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 260.5%, setting a new historical high. During the 2023-2024 snow season, the scenic area received 720000 visitors, an increase of 164.3% compared to the snow season of 2019, with an average daily reception of over 10000 visitors during the peak season of ice and snow.

Since 2023, the construction of the Changbai Mountain Project has made new strides, introducing a number of key projects such as the Spring of Herun Mountain, Lujiao Village, and Forest Health Center; it has promoted infrastructure improvement projects such as the Changbai Mountain high-speed railway station hub and the Chixi district water diversion project; it has revitalized existing assets such as Legendary Town, Changbai Academy, New Wonder World Zuorong Mansion, and North Bafang, and continuously improved economic vitality. In the future, Changbai Mountain will be market-oriented, enriching some products such as Yunding Tiangong and Jindai Ancient Street Phase II, launching more formats, realizing technological empowerment, filling the gaps in “shopping” and “entertainment” elements, and forming a new matrix of tourism consumption products. It will intensify the development of low altitude tourism economy, develop unmanned aerial vehicle sightseeing, distribution, aerial photography and other business formats. It will vigorously develop the “night economy”, focusing on cultivating characteristic dining, entertainment, and leisure gathering areas such as Baishan Street, Changbai Wanxiang, and Alice-style Street, and cultivating over a hundred night economy demonstration stores. It will accelerate the integration of scenic areas and towns, continuously improving the carrying capacity, reception capacity, and service level of scenic spots.

1.1.3 Technical analysis

This project adopts the latest planning, building, and construction technologies.‌

1.1.4 Advantageous conditions of project construction

(1) Policy advantages

In March, 2024, Changbai Mountain Geopark was officially awarded the title of UNESCO World Geopark. The Changbai Mountain region will use this as a powerful lever to accelerate its progress towards becoming a world-class tourist destination. According to the plan, Changbai Mountain will continue to increase investment promotion and project construction efforts, plan and construct a number of landmark supporting projects, and promote the landing of projects such as the regional tourism distribution center, slow travel system (3.0), and tourism industry fund. Deepen practical cooperation with leading domestic cultural and tourism enterprises such as China Tourism Group, China Railway Group, OCT Group, Qujiang Cultural Investment Group Co., Ltd., Lifang Digital Technology Group Co., Ltd., and Kaiyuan Senbo, etc. and lead the integrated development of culture and tourism with large projects and investments.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s Domestic Tourism Promotion Plan (2023-2025) mentions the need to strengthen domestic tourism promotion, enrich high-quality tourism supply, improve tourism consumption experience, enhance public service efficiency, support the transformation and upgrading of business entities, deepen political reforms in key areas, improve the quality of tourism market services, and strengthen market supervision.

The General Office of the State Council has issued the Measures to Unleash the Potential of Tourism Consumption and Promote High-quality Development of Tourism. These measures aim to promote the deep integration of culture and tourism, guide the healthy development of various formats such as drama festivals, music festivals, art festivals, animation festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, and cultural tourism exhibitions, and enrich various formats such as “music+tourism”, “performance+tourism”, “exhibition+tourism”, and “event+tourism”.

The Implementation Plan for the Support Project for Rural Culture and Tourism Leaders (2023-2025) proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism aims to fully stimulate the development potential of leaders and further strengthen the construction of rural culture and tourism city leaders through strengthening contact services, implementing project funding, building communication platforms, strengthening education and training, encouraging innovative practices, and other methods.

The Ecotourism Development Plan of Jilin Province (2022-2030) proposed by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Jilin Province proposes to adhere to the priority of protection and green sustainable development, build the “dual portals” and create the “dual green hearts” to drive the linkage of the whole region and all seasons, drive the whole year, transform the green ecological advantages into an ecological tourism industry highland, and promote the high-quality development of all region tourism and all season tourism. By 2025, it will have been initially built into a strong province of all season ecological tourism in China and an internationally first-class summer vacation and ice and snow vacation ecological tourism destination. By 2030, it will have been built into a world-class four season ecological tourism destination, and ecological tourism will have become an important support for Jilin Province to build the “trillion-level” tourism.

The Notice of Jilin Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Jilin Provincial Department of Finance on Issuing the Detailed Rules for Supporting Tourism-related Enterprises in Jilin Province, clearly stating that it will adhere to the principle of rewarding excellence, supporting strength, and promoting innovation, actively support the development, transformation, and upgrading of tourism market operators, actively support the construction of tourism infrastructure investment projects, actively support the creation of tourism brands, and actively encourage the improvement and upgrading of tourism products; emphasize the exemplary, driving, and radiating role of tourism related enterprises; emphasize the role of financial support and guidance; adhere to fairness, impartiality, openness, and transparency; adhere to the principle of “implementing first, rewarding later, and not repeating rewards and subsidies”.

The 14th Five-Year Plan for Cultural and Tourism Development of Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone (2021-2025) proposes to rely on the two major resource advantages of “green mountains and lucid water and “ice and snow”, focus on integrating cultural resources such as “historical culture, folk customs, red anti Japanese alliance, border culture”, accelerate the transformation of cultural tourism resources into cultural tourism products, increase the integration and innovative development of cultural tourism industry with other industries, strengthen the transformation from a single sightseeing economy to a compound leisure and vacation experience economy, and create a world-class ecological tourism destination and Changbai Mountain International Ecological Leisure (Ice and Snow Hot Springs) Tourism Area. By the end of the planning period of 2025, there will have been 2 original masterpieces of art, 2 cultural industry parks, a comprehensive tourism revenue of 10 billion yuan, and a tourism reception of 10 million people.  

(2) Resource advantages

The Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve has numerous rivers and abundant water sources, and is the source of the Songhua River, Yalu River, and Tumen River. The Second Songhua River is the upper reaches of the Songhua River, with two sources: the Toudao River in the south and the Erdao River in the north. The Toudao River gathers various tributaries on the western slope of Changbai Mountain. The main tributaries within the protected area include Manjiang River, Jinjiang River, Tizi River, Dasha River, Xiaosha River, Songjiang River, Caozi River, etc. The average annual flow of rivers in the entire region is 24 billion cubic meters, with a hydraulic reserve of 3.47 million kilowatts.

Changbai Mountain in the southeast of Jilin Province has unique natural landscapes and many rare biological resources. At the same time, it has also created a unique hot spring belt in Jilin Province. Changbai Hot Spring is known as the “divine water”. Due to the presence of various trace elements such as hydrogen sulfide, zinc, and lithium in the spring water, it can relax tendons, promote blood circulation, drive away cold and diseases, eliminate fatigue, promote blood circulation, and accelerate human metabolism. The biggest feature of the hot springs around Changbai Mountain is the outdoor hot springs often set up between the original natural rivers and buildings. People can experience characteristic hot springs such as volcanic hot springs, forest hot springs, and snow hot springs outdoors. Placed in a primitive forest at a high altitude, one can easily breathe in a natural oxygen bar, soak in hot spring water, and step on the stone paved ground, fully immersing oneself in nature. In addition, Changbai Mountain is also rich in Chinese herbal medicine, which is added to hot springs to form a unique medicinal bath with herbs such as Chinese herbal medicine and gastrodia elata. The combination of hot spring water and traditional Chinese medicine enhances the health benefits of soaking in hot springs.

(3) Industrial advantages

The Action Plan of Jilin Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Jilin Provincial Governments for the Trillion-level Tourism in Jilin Province (2023-2025) aims to achieve a total tourism revenue of 720 billion yuan and receive 400 million domestic and foreign tourists by 2025, with an average annual growth rate of over 20%. The average annual growth rates of inbound tourism revenue and the number of inbound tourists received have reached over 190% and 90%, respectively; overnight tourists account for over 42%. It will strive to achieve the trillion-level tourism goal within 5 years.

In 2023, Changbai Mountain Scenic Area received a total of 2.74 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 260.5%, setting a new historical high. Since 2023, the construction of the Changbai Mountain project has made new strides, introducing a number of key projects such as the Spring of Herun Mountain, Lujiao Village, and Forest Health Center; it has revitalized existing assets such as Legendary Town, Changbai Academy, New Wonder World Zuorong Mansion, and North Bafang, and continuously improved economic vitality. In the future, Changbai Mountain will accelerate the integration of scenic areas and towns, continuously improving the carrying capacity, reception capacity, and service level of scenic spots.

(4) Talent advantages

Changbai Mountain has a large number of high-quality and mature technical workers, who are trained by enterprises and public welfare institutions to provide nearly 10000 skilled talents to society every year. The labor resource advantages are obvious, and the proportion of skilled workers is at a high level in the Northeast urban agglomeration. The labor force is in a dividend period, and the labor cost is relatively low. There is a large number of high-quality industrial workers who can meet the needs of various enterprises.

1.2 Contents and scale of project construction

1.2.1 Construction scale

This project covers an area of 182000 square meters.

1.2.2 Construction contents

The total construction area of the project is 160000 square meters, mainly including the main building of the hot spring resort center, the hot spring sanatorium, the hot spring agriculture center, the hiking trail, the business conference center, the geothermal research center, the animal and plant viewing sunroof, the hot spring specialty processing plant, and the We Media sales center.

1.3 Total investment of the project and capital raising

1.3.1 Total investment of the project

The total investment of the project is 1.5 billion yuan, including the construction investment of 1.005 billion yuan and current funds of 495 million yuan.

1.3.2 Capital raising

Self-raising by the enterprise。

1.4 Financial analysis and social evaluation

1.4.1 Main financial indexes

After the project reaches the production capacity, its annual sales revenue will be 3.06122 billion yuan, its profit will be 382.65 million yuan, its investment payback period will be 6.9 years (after the tax, including the construction period of 2 years) and its investment profit rate will be 25.5%.

Note: “10 thousand yuan” in the table is in RMB.

1.4.2 Social evaluation

The construction of the hot spring health and wellness complex project will further enrich the tourism industry of Changbai Mountain, improve tourist satisfaction and stay time, thereby increasing tourism revenue. The hot spring health and wellness complex project not only involves hot spring tourism, but also drives the development of related industries such as hotels, catering, medical care, and health management, forming an industrial chain effect.

The implementation of the project can meet the health consumption needs of tourists and further promote the development of Changbai Mountain hot spring industry. After the completion of the project, it will play a promoting role in the construction of the big health industry, the construction of livable quality around Changbai Mountain, the recovery and sustainable development of the cultural and tourism industry, and other aspects.

1.5 Cooperative way

Joint venture or cooperation, and other methods can be discussed face-to-face.

1.6 What to be invested by the foreign party

Funds, and other methods can be discussed face-to-face.

1.7 Construction site of the project

To the south of Yulan Road, east of Jinjiang Street, west of Wangchi Street, and north of Songhua Road in Chixi District, Changbai Mountain, Jilin Province.

1.8 Progress of the project

It is in the external investment promotion, and the project is currently processing the extension procedures for mining rights.

2. Introduction to the Partner

2.1 Basic information

Name: Bureau of Economic Development and Commerce of Chixi District

Address: Address: Chixi District, Changbai Mountain

2.2 Overview

Chixi District is located at the northwest foot of Changbai Mountain, 68 kilometers away from Baiyun Peak, the main peak of Changbai Mountain. It is situated in the middle of Chibei District and Chinan District, with a total area of 739 square kilometers, including approximately 12 square kilometers of the central urban area (formerly Donggang Town and the southern part of Songjianghe Town), 30 square kilometers southeast of Donggang Town, 10 square kilometers around Changbai Mountain Airport, 10 square kilometers around the mountain gate on the west slope of Changbai Mountain, 1000 meters inside and outside the up and down roads of the west slope, 1000 meters inside and outside the Changbai Mountain tourism road, and four themed functional areas: Baixi Tourism Transportation Hub, Wolong International Conference Center, and Qianchuan and Caozihe Sports and Leisure Bases.

2.3 Contact method

Postal code: 134511

Contact person: Jia Shichao  

Tel: +86-439-5100332  

   +86-18243946222 

E-mail: 499253737@qq.com

Contact method of the city (prefecture) where the project is located:

Contact unit: Bureau of Commerce of Changbai Mountain Management Committee

Contact person: Sun Xichao

Tel: +86-17684305688   

E-mail: 704032891@qq.com