In China's city of Harbin, the world's biggest winter festival is underway. Already, thousands of visitors have walked through the gates. But what has the annual event done economically for this north-eastern city? Jenny Cortes Ybanez brings us this report.

The geographical position of the Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, in the northeast of China, means the average temperature drops to -25 degrees Celsius during the cold winters and stays below freezing. It's in this period where they're able to gather a lot of ice and snow. And it's because of this commodity that many of the famous ice and snow spectacles in the area were born.

XI DONGGUANG, DIRECTOR HEILONGJIANG PROVINCIAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE "Snow and ice tourism has become an important engine of economic restructuring and upgrading and structural adjustment, and has also increased the incomes of some people. In the past, Heilongjiang was dominated by the energy economy and industry, and now the tertiary industry has surpassed 50%. Tourism is the leader of the tertiary industry."

JENNY CORTES YBAÑEZ HARBIN "In the third quarter of 2017 the domestic tourism revenue was approximately 62.5 billion yuan, up 38.46% from the previous year. The increase of visitors here at the Ice and Snow Festival is not only beneficial for the northeastern city's tourism sector, but it also profits other industries such as transportation services, hospitality and retail."

LIU XIULEI, MANAGER PECTOPAH RESTAURANT, HARBIN "It's very good for our restaurant business, which is the best during the period from mid-December to the end of February when the event is on. Then business declines over the summer, as we get half of the number of customers compared to winter. It's then that we use some promotions like group buying activities to pull customers in."

The attractions have previously drawn 10 to 15 million tourists annually from China and abroad.

TOURIST FROM GUANGDONG "We come from Guangdong and it's my second time to Harbin. My daughter especially likes snow carving. This time in Harbin, I felt the progress of the project was slow. Three years ago, most of the snow sculptures were ready."

TOURIST FROM GERMANY "These buildings are just huge and amazing and it's really hard to build them and I can only imagine how long it takes them to build up these things. Then you come here and you just see these astonishing and remarkable things they did. It's really great!"

The snow in Heilongjiang province has become valuable, turning cold resources into hot economic gains. But now the local government say they're also focusing on and gearing up for the biggest winter show on earth, the Winter Olympics 2022, in Beijing. Jenny Cortes Ybañez, CGTN, Harbin.