The annual World Winter Sports Expo will kick off in Beijing in October, organizers said, with winter sports powerhouse Finland being named this year's Country of Honor.

Zhang Li, vice president of IDG ­China, the main promoter of the expo, said this year's expo, which runs from October 17 to 20, will focus on promoting China's cooperation with international winter sports bodies, to boost innovation in the development of China's winter sports.  

This year marks the China-Finland Year of Winter Sports with a yearlong collaboration between the two countries on winter sports, which is already in full swing. The Finland Pavilion at the expo will feature Finnish "snow-how" in the fields of education, training and tourism, organizers said.

Finland's latest triumph in winter sports was in ice hockey. Its men's ­national team won the World Championship in Slovakia in May.

During the expo, Finland Day will be celebrated on October 18, with a winter sports seminar expected to be a highlight.

Organizers said some 160,000 ­visitors are expected to visit the expo this year, including 24,000 agency representatives. The number of Chinese and ­foreign brands will likely exceed 600, according to organizers.

China has vowed to have 300 million people participating in winter sports by 2022, the year Beijing will host the ­Winter Olympics. 

Beijing will become the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.