On January 18, Chinese Embassy in the US held an online media briefing on Beijing Winter Olympics. Mr. Jing Quan, Minister of the Embassy, and Mr. Yang Shu, Deputy Director General of International Relations Department of Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (BOCOG), delivered remarks to the briefing. Ms. Yu Hong, Director General of BOCOG Technology Department, Ms. Zhou Ling, Deputy Director General of BOCOG Arrival and Departure Center, and other BOCO officials attended the briefing and joined Mr. Jing and Mr. Yang in taking questions from the journalists.

In his remarks, Minister Jing said, “Together for a shared future” — the slogan of the Games — means development and progress; peace and solidarity; and win-win cooperation. Both China and the US are major players in the Olympics. Sports played a very important role in the history of China-US relations. Sport competition and exchanges tell us that we could rise above the differences in ideology and social system. They also tell us that we could pursue excellence and common progress through healthy competition and mutual respect.

Minister Jing said, as President Xi Jinping stressed, we will spare no effort to present a great Winter Olympics to the world. Beijing Winter Olympics will be fantastic and extraordinary. The Games will take place around the Chinese New Year, which means the winter is about to end. I sincerely hope that people could enjoy the peace and warmth of the Games, and spread sunshine, openness, and solidarity to people who have been overshadowed by the pandemic for far too long.

Deputy Director General Yang said in his remarks that BOCOG has been taking a green, inclusive, open and clean approach to hosting a streamlined, safe and splendid Winter Olympics over the past six years. With solid progress made in preparations, everything is ready for the Games: highlights in venue and facility construction, strong operation capability, meticulous Games service, and science-based preparedness for COVID-19. We have used the Winter Olympics to engage 300 million Chinese in winter sports, and this has strongly promoted China’s ice and snow industry, and got Winter Olympics preparation integrated into city development. This has benefited local people and will be one of the greatest Olympic legacies for winter sports and the Olympic Movement.

Journalists from over 20 Chinese and international media, including AP, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, South China Morning Post, PBS, CBS, BBC, People’s Daily, Xinhua, CGTN, China Daily, China News Service, attended the briefing and raised questions on the preparations for the Games, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, data security, mobile applications, China-US winter sport exchanges, and opposing sport politicization, etc.