Capital's Olympics plan heeds reform agenda

Children pose with cartoon characters at a ski resort in Beijing on Sunday, which was World Snow Day. To promote snow sports, 15 ski resorts across the country offered free ski classes to children ages 4 to 14 on Sunday. WEI XIAOHAO/CHINA DAILY

Beijing would host the 2022 Winter Olympics with a sustainable and athlete-centered approach as a strong echo of the reform of the Olympic Movement, the city emphasized in the bid it made public last week.

With six months left before the host city is decided on July 31, the Beijing Bid Committee made its candidature file public on its website on Jan 12, sending a strong message to the world that a 2022 Games in China would be held in accordance with the International Olympic Committee's Agenda 2020.

Agenda 2020, a reform proposal containing 40 recommendations, was approved at the 127th IOC Session in early December.

Featuring three major pledges－to run an athlete-centered Olympics, ensure sustainability and host an economical Games－the vision for a Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics complies with Agenda 2020 recommendations that future Olympics should be held with strategic planning in line with the host city's long-term social and economic development to avoid excessive spending.

In the application, Beijing said its 2022 Winter Olympics would fully capitalize on the legacy from the 2008 Summer Olympics of existing venues, urban infrastructure and operating experience to reduce financial cost.

The plan to host the Games in three clusters－downtown Beijing, Yanqing county and the city of Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei province－would stimulate regional economic growth and social development while setting a new model of integrated development of megalopolis clusters, said bid committee officials.

"Beijing's vision to integrate the hosting of the 2022 Olympics into the strategy of regional development and cooperation of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province is in total agreement with the IOC 2020 agenda," Wang Anshun, mayor of Beijing and the bid committee chairman, said after submitting the candidature file to IOC headquarters in Lausanne, earlier this month.

"The Winter Olympic Games are not only a significant international sports event, but also a valuable opportunity to speed up the development of the cities, the region and even the country," he said.

The official file consists of three volumes divided into 14 themes and provides detailed replies to more than 200 questions and requirements raised by the IOC, including Beijing's vision, the bid objectives, venue plans, and arrangements for transport, media operations and security.

Should Beijing win the bid, the 2022 Winter Olympics would be held at 12 proposed competition venues, including six facilities built for the 2008 Games. The six newly built venues have already been planned and financed by governments and the private sector, with well-designed post-Games operation plans regardless of the bid result.

To guarantee hosting an economical Games, the bid committee has prepared a meticulous, prudent and feasible budget. Emphasis would be placed on conducting market-based fundraising, improving internal management and exercising strict cost control over operations, the bid states.

Liu Peng, chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said Beijing would bring its pledge to life by implementing each word in the bid.

"Submitting the file and relevant guarantee documents represents strong support from the Chinese government and the COC for Beijing's bid. We will work hard to prove that Beijing is a zero-risk choice for the Olympic Movement," he said.