Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends:
Today, it gives me great pleasure to launch the online event “Together for a Shared Future: 50 Days to the Beijing Winter Olympics”.
On behalf of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, I’d like to extend our warm congratulations on this programme and our best wishes to the athletes from both China and the UK!
The Winter Olympics, to be held from February 4th to 20th, 2022, will make Beijing the first city in the world hosting both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
Guided by the principle of “Green, Inclusive, Open and Clean”, Beijing will work to deliver a simple, safe and splendid Olympics and a magnificent “Fete on Ice and Snow” for the world.
This is our solemn pledge to the international community.
The venues for the Winter Olympics were built with high efficiency and up to high standards. Now, all the 12 competition venues are finished and ready for sports events.
For the first time in the world, all the facilities are powered by green and renewable energy. And for the first time in the world, CO2 transcritical ice-making technology will be used in the National Speed Skating Oval.
These will provide effective safeguards for fair competition and enhance the charm of winter sports.
We are also well prepared with regard to pandemic prevention and control. We have worked with the IOC to publish the playbooks on pandemic response and will ensure the safety and health of everyone at the Games, as well as the general public.
In accordance with the requirements and practice of the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee, we have also organized meticulous test events.
Over 2,000 athletes from across the world have been invited to compete in ten test events in China from October 5th to December 31st. Contestants and coaches have all given “thumbs up” to the high quality of the venues, the good conditions for competitions and the high-standard logistics support.
IOC President Thomas Bach hailed the preparation work as a “miracle”.
This is to carry on the Olympic spirit.
Over 2,800 years ago, the Olympic Games was created to put an end to wars and bring people together to fight the spread of disease.
Over 100 years ago, Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, said that the Olympic spirit requires mutual understanding, friendship, solidarity and fair play.
Over the years, the International Olympic Movement has brought together people from different countries, ethnic groups and cultural backgrounds, deepened their mutual understanding and friendship, and made important contribution to the lofty cause of promoting peace and development for mankind.
Recently, however, some politicians in a handful of countries such as the US and the UK are playing politics with the Winter Olympics. In doing so, they have been creating division and confrontation, instead of harmony and solidarity. We should not allow ourselves to be distracted by their political gimmicks.
Earlier this month, the 76th General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce for Beijing 2022, which was sponsored by 173 countries.
This speaks volumes about the strong international support for China to host a successful Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
This will be a vivid practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
As we speak, the omicron variant of Covid-19 is ravaging the world, pressure for tackling climate change is mounting, the global economy is still struggling for recovery.
The IOC proposed to shape the post-coronavirus world with the Olympic values. This matches the spirit of building a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping.
Under the motto of “Together for a Shared Future”, the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games are calling on people from all countries to transcend differences, come together under the banner of the Olympics, and join hands to address global challenges such as Covid-19 and climate change and build a better world after the pandemic.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends:
China has made rapid progress in both sports and the related industries. In the past six years since Beijing was awarded the right to host the 24th winter games, the number of skiing venues and skiers in the country has doubled. The vision of “engaging 300 million people in winter sports” is gradually coming true.
The UK is the birth place for modern sports and sports industries. There are enormous potentials for China and the UK to enhance cooperation in this area.
Both sides should take the opportunity of the Beijing Winter Olympics to bring our cooperation in sports to a new level, and deliver more tangible benefits to the peoples of our two countries.
On behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I am delighted to welcome the UK Winter Olympic team to Beijing, and wish British athletes success.
Thank you.
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