SCIO briefing on overall progress in preparations for Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 1, 2021
Speakers:
Zhang Jiandong, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) and vice mayor of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality
Li Yingchuan, vice minister of the General Administration of Sport
Wang Meimei, vice president of the Executive Board of the China Disabled Persons' Federation
Cui Shuqiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Beijing Municipal Committee and executive vice mayor of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality
Yan Pengcheng, vice governor of the People's Government of Hebei Province
Chairperson:
Shou Xiaoli, deputy director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and SCIO spokesperson
Date:
Oct. 27, 2021
Shou Xiaoli:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). Tuesday marked the beginning of the 100-day countdown to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Today, we are delighted to be joined by Mr. Zhang Jiandong, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) and vice mayor of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality; Mr. Li Yingchuan, vice minister of the General Administration of Sport; Ms. Wang Meimei, vice president of the Executive Board of the China Disabled Persons' Federation; Mr. Cui Shuqiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Beijing Municipal Committee and executive vice mayor of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality; and Mr. Yan Pengcheng, vice governor of the People's Government of Hebei Province. They will brief you on China's overall progress in preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and then take your questions. First, I'll give the floor to Mr. Zhang Jiandong.
Zhang Jiandong:
Friends from the media, good morning.
As we celebrated the 100-day countdown to Beijing 2022 on Tuesday, it's my pleasure to meet with you here and brief you on China's overall progress in preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. First, on behalf of the BOCOG, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to friends from the media for their constant interest, support and help regarding Beijing 2022.
The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 is a landmark event at a critical historic juncture in China. It is also the world's biggest comprehensive winter sports extravaganza. The Central Committee of the CPC has attached great importance to its preparation works. General Secretary Xi Jinping has held many special conferences to conduct research and make arrangements, inspected competition zones and issued key directives, all of which provide a fundamental basis for our organizing work. Under the direct instructions by the leading group overseeing Beijing 2022 preparations, the BOCOG has been fully implementing the concept of hosting the Games in a "green, sharing, open and clean" manner ever since the organizing work began. The BOCOG has also been working closely with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and coordinating epidemic prevention and control with the preparation works for the Games. At present, all preparation works have been put in place.
First, the competition venues and infrastructure facilities have met the requirements of the Games. All 12 competition venues have been completed, are ready to host the Games and have been certified by the relevant international winter sports organizations. While being qualified to host the Games, newly-built venues such as the National Speed Skating Oval ("Ice Ribbon"), the National Snowmobile and Sled Center ("Snow Dragon") and the National Ski Jumping Center ("Snow Ruyi") have fully incorporated Chinese cultural elements and become eye-catching landmark buildings. Non-competition venues such as the three Winter Olympic Villages and the Main Media Center have started operation. Meanwhile, the high-speed railway line linking Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the Beijing-Chongli Expressway and other infrastructure facilities have been put into use. Barrier-free facilities and environments have been further improved. All of these have fully met the requirements of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Second, all competition venues are running up to the operation standard of Games-time. Venues are the basic factors and the most important main bodies of the competition's operation. In 2020, a venue management team was established based on personnel from the BOCOG, local governments and venue operators. The team is in charge of each venue's competition organizing work, pandemic prevention and control, maintenance of facilities and other supporting services. This February and April, we successfully held winter sports test events for domestic athletes and carried out inspections of various work concerning the venues' operation. To further improve competition venues' Games-time operation and supporting capacities, we plan to hold 10 international test events and three international training week sessions from October to December. This will be an all-element test up to the standards of the Winter Games. It is estimated that some 2,000 overseas athletes and officials will participate in the test events, which will be held under a closed-loop management system. So far, five of these test events have already concluded — the Speed Skating China Open, Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy, ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup, and snowmobile and steel frame snowmobile time trials. The World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2021 is currently underway. Based on the competitions which have concluded, international sports organizations and participating athletes have spoken highly of the venues and the preparation work. We will continue to take a problem-oriented approach, summarize experiences at each competition, and earnestly improve our preparation work, so as to lay a sound foundation for the Games-time operation of the venues.
Third, efforts have been made to comprehensively carry out supporting services for the Games. Three competition zones are following the same standards regarding all sorts of preparation work. The BOCOG has signed contracts with nearly 100 hotels, formulated allocation plans for accommodations, and is currently working on hotel reservations. The BOCOG has finished selecting suppliers of food raw materials for the Games as well as catering service providers, and has drawn up menus which meet the different needs of all sorts of customers. The organizing committee has appointed 41 designated healthcare institutions and set up medical teams inside venues. It has also established a traffic command center during the Games to specify vehicle types and carry out traffic arrangements. A preliminary list of volunteers for the Games has been confirmed, and relevant training sessions are underway. The BOCOG has formulated and implemented an action plan on the sci-tech development of the Winter Games, proactively promoting the use of hydrogen fuel, 5G communication, cloud broadcasting, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. Many of these technologies are related to media and news reporting. For example, passenger coaches of the high-speed railway linking Beijing and Zhangjiakou have realized full coverage of the 5G network, and we will experience the convenience and efficiency brought about by these sci-tech innovation results during the Games.
Fourth, the BOCOG has been working to properly address the risks brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is the biggest challenge facing Beijing 2022. To better prevent and control the pandemic, the BOCOG has established an international working group for pandemic prevention and control with the IOC and the World Health Organization (WHO). The BOCOG has also worked with the National Health Commission, Beijing Municipality and Hebei province to set up a special working group and expert team for domestic pandemic prevention and control. We remain committed to prioritizing the health and safety of all participants. By giving full play to international and domestic anti-pandemic systems, the BOCOG has formulated the general guiding principle of anti-pandemic efforts for the Winter Games, a general working plan, as well as a series of venue-specific pandemic countermeasures. A set of key anti-pandemic policies was released on Sept. 30. The BOCOG, the IOC and the IPC jointly published the first playbook for COVID-19 countermeasures for Beijing 2022 on Oct. 25. The playbook outlines six fundamental principles of simplified organizing efforts, remote prevention and control, vaccination, close-loop management, efficient handling, and the integration of prevention and control. The playbook also puts forward specific anti-pandemic measures. In the following days, we will hold conferences with various stakeholders and comprehensively explain specific anti-pandemic policies. There will also be press briefings for the media, which we welcome you to join.
Fifth, publicity campaigns and cultural activities are on the rise. The Winter Games are not only a sports extravaganza, but also a festival of culture. Since the organizing work began, the BOCOG has released the vision of Beijing 2022, its emblems, mascots, torch, sports pictograms, medals and relevant musical works. A documentary channel has been launched by Beijing Television, and a group of Winter Games cultural squares have been selected across the country. The BOCOG has held themed events such as the 1,000-day countdown, the one-year countdown and the 100-day countdown to Beijing 2022. The Beijing 2022 Olympic flame has been ignited and handed over to the BOCOG. A welcome ceremony was held at the Beijing Olympic Tower to release the torch relay plans and exhibit the Olympic flame. All of these cultural activities have added Chinese elements to the diversity of the Olympics. With the media coverage at home and abroad, a strong Winter Games atmosphere has been fostered. In the meantime, preparations for the opening ceremony of the Games are proceeding in an orderly manner.
Sixth, the BOCOG has made remarkable progress concerning sustainability and Olympic heritage. The BOCOG has been carrying out sustainability plans and carbon neutrality schemes, and has completed the ecological restoration of Yanqing and Zhangjiakou competition zones. All competition venues have realized full coverage of the green electricity network. The National Speed Skating Oval and another three venues have adopted a new type of carbon dioxide refrigerant, and all facilities of Beijing 2022 have achieved carbon neutrality. The BOCOG has fully implemented the strategic plan on Olympic heritage. Every competition venue has put forward their plan for reuse after the Games conclude. The Beijing International Olympic Academy has been established based on the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports. A Winter Olympic Park has been built inside the Shougang Park, a steel mill-turned cultural and sports complex in western Beijing. The post-Games naming of the Yanqing Olympic Park and Zhangjiakou-Chongli Olympic Park has been approved. Taking the opportunities brought about by the organizing work of the Winter Games, we have promoted the construction of winter sports venues. By proactively bringing winter sports into campuses and neighborhoods, we are getting closer to achieving the goal of getting 300 million Chinese people involved with winter sports. We have fully utilized the Winter Games' role in helping promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, so as to enhance transport facility connectivity, boost industrial complementarity, carry out joint environmental governance, and promote the joint construction and sharing of public services. We have worked to establish a tourism belt featuring sports culture between Beijing and Zhangjiakou, and fostered the transformation and high-quality development of the Shougang industrial complex, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
In the meantime, given China's institutional advantages of pooling resources for major events, the BOCOG has established a set of integrated and coordinated working mechanisms with the relevant central government departments, Beijing Municipality and Hebei province. A command center has been established and was officially put into operation on Oct. 15 before the international test events of Beijing 2022 kicked off. Command and dispatch works are being conducted on a daily basis. The command system will continue operating until the Games time and detect and solve any problems, in a bid to ensure an efficient and orderly Winter Games.
Friends from the media, starting from today, there are 99 days left before the Winter Games start. The Winter Olympic Villages will officially open to all participants from around the world on Jan. 27, 2022. The torch relay will be held on Feb. 2, kicking off the Winter Olympics time. We firmly believe that under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the great support of all Chinese people and the international society, the BOCOG will complete all its organizing tasks and deliver a simple, safe and splendid Winter Olympic Games to the world.
In conclusion, I'd like to welcome friends from the media to continue their interest and participation in the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Thank you.
Shou Xiaoli:
Thank you, Mr. Zhang. Now the floor is open for questions. Please identify your news outlet before asking questions.
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