Abundant legacies expected in Beijing's 2022 Olympics bidding

No matter where Beijing's bidding efforts for the 2022 Winter Olympics will go, the Olympic legacies for the city and the country have already come into being, but a successful bidding can for sure leave behind more.

Irrespective of the outcome for the joint bid of Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the two cities will receive a lot of benefits from the bidding process.

The bid has drawn a sufficient amount of investment from the government and the private sector. The National Speed Skating Oval, the Biathlon Centre and the Nordic Centre Ski Jumping Venue will be constructed as scheduled.

The transport and venue facilities in Beijing and Zhang Jiakou will be upgraded in a continuous manner.

The government has implemented the "300 Million People Winter Sports Plan" program to enhance the public acquaintance about and participation in winter sports.

The bid will further enhance the international recognition and influence of Beijing and Zhangjiakou, allowing for the development of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Sport, Culture and Tourism Belt, boosting the regional economic development and accelerating the implementation of the air quality improvement plan.

Should Beijing win the bid, the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee would initiate the founding of an institution for Beijing 2022 legacy planning and coordination, which will involve key stakeholders such as related government authorities and venue owners.

The institution will be responsible for the research, formulation and improvement of the Olympic legacy plan, supervising and coordinating all parties in the pre-and-post-Games implementation of the plan, as well as evaluating the results.

After the Organizing Committee completes its tasks, the institution will be incorporated into the Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) and continue its role.

China has strengths in sports and disciplines like short track speed skating, sprint speed skating, figure skating, curling, freestyle skiing aerials and snowboard halfpipe. The Chinese government has launched the "Winter Sports Promotion Plan" in order to boost the all-round improvement in snow sports.

The Plan aims to establish national teams, increase the number of athletes of the ice and snow sports and elevate athletes' competition skills in such sports as bobsleigh and luge.

Efforts will be made to introduce winter sports and related knowledge to encourage the youth to participate in winter sports, in the hope of finding more talented winter sports athletes.

The improvement of winter sport facilities in Beijing and Zhangjiakou will facilitate the staging of more high-level winter sports events, through which a large number of management and technical personnel will be trained, and the management level of winter sports competitions enhanced in China and entire Asia.

The International Olympic Committee will vote for the host city of the 2022 Olympic Winter on July 31, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia. Endi