- President Xi inspects Olympic preparations in Beijing and Zhangjiakou.
-- China will host a spectacular Games with unique characteristics.
-- The high-speed rail that marks essential progress in the Olympic preparations is hailed as a successful demonstration of China's independent innovation.
BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has called for advancing preparation work for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games against difficulties and "with greater perfection."
Xi, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on Wednesday when presiding over a meeting on the Beijing 2022 preparations, following his inspection tours of Beijing and Hebei.
Xi inspected the Games' preparation work in Haidian and Yanqing District, both of Beijing, on Monday, and the co-host city of Zhangjiakou on Tuesday.
He extended his thanks to athletes, coaches and construction, managerial and working staff, and expressed his best wishes for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.
President Xi Jinping learns about venues construction and athletes' preparations, and extends greetings to athletes and coaches while visiting the Capital Gymnasium in Haidian District, Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
PREPARATIONS WITH PERFECTION
Xi called on conducting the preparation work "with greater perfection," replanning and readjusting all work in accordance with new circumstances while focusing on both epidemic prevention and control and the organization of the Games.
Xi said "simplicity, safety and excellence" should be prioritized in the Games' preparations. He also called on guarding against and comprehensively neutralizing all kinds of risks and diligently carrying out the preparation work, including competition organization and services, technological application and cultural activities.
An aerial photo taken on Jan. 19, 2021 shows the National Sliding Center in Yanqing District, Beijing. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)
As the Beijing 2022 preparations have entered a crucial stage, Xi urged efforts to center around staging the Games as scheduled and comprehensively sort out and implement all preparation work.
He required the preparation work to be carried out with respect to six key points:
- Completing the construction of non-competition venues and complementary facilities on schedule, and increasing necessary facilities for virus-testing, quarantine and emergencies.
- Ensuring quality operation during the Games with an efficient management system in place, and improving coordination and emergency-handling capabilities between regions and sectors.
- Advancing competition services by adhering to the principle of a "unified standard for three competition zones," namely, urban Beijing, Yanqing District and Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province.
- Enhancing communication and cooperation with the International Olympic Committee and other international sports organizations and strictly implementing epidemic prevention and control measures.
- Developing winter sports and encouraging participation of more youngsters.
- Promoting coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, striving for more achievements in transportation, environment, industry and public services, and proactively planning the post-Games utilization of the venues.
"Not only will we host a successful Winter Olympic extravaganza, but also a spectacular Games with unique characteristics," Xi said.
Children learn skiing at a ski resort on Jiangjun Mountain in Altay, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Nov. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Sadat)
SOLEMN COMMITMENT
Hosting an excellent 2022 Games is a major task of the Party and the country, and it is a solemn commitment to the international community, Xi noted.
He also stressed delivering a "fantastic, extraordinary and excellent" Olympics in 2022 with a "green, inclusive, open and clean" approach.
Xi emphasized that Beijing 2022 is an event of great significance at the outset of the 14th Five-Year Plan period from 2021 to 2025, calling for a stronger sense of responsibility, mission and urgency during the preparation work.
Xi noted satisfying results had been produced over the past five years, thanks to organizers' efficient work, the cooperation of all relevant parties, and close coordination with international sports organizations.
Xi urged the Games' organizing committee to adhere to the regulations and institutions, adopt stringent budget management, control the Games' costs, avoid corruption and make the Games as "pure and clean as ice and snow."
