Preparation of venues

As China prepares for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and co-host city Zhangjiakou in Hebei province, Xi's close attention to the capital's readiness for the Games, underlined by his instructions last week, previous visits to the venues and multiple meetings with Thomas Bach, head of International Olympic Committee, has motivated organizers to stage the milestone event in a green, shared, open and clean way.

"Our preparation of venues for the Games has entered the final stage," said Liu Yumin, director of the planning, construction and sustainable development department of the 2022 Winter Olympics organizing committee.

"We are confident and on track to deliver all the venues on time to host a fantastic, extraordinary and excellent Games which will inspire the whole nation."

With planning for test events and post-Games venue operations proceeding cautiously under COVID-19 prevention protocols, Beijing is progressing smoothly to be the world's first city to host both Games, after having organized the 2008 Summer Olympics, and to integrate social and economic development in the region into preparatory work for the Games.

"I feel honored and motivated by the president's speech, which attaches great importance to sports as a pillar for the development of other aspects ranging from public health to cultural soft power and economic growth," said Bao Mingxiao, director of the China Sports Economic Research Center, who was invited to attend the symposium last week.