China Focus: Beijing serious about Winter Olympics bid

Beijing is pushing ahead with its 2022 Winter Olympics bid with preparations from pollution mitigation to infrastructure construction.

"The bid by Beijing and co-host Zhangjiakou has entered its sprint phase," said Zhang Jiandong, Beijing vice mayor and vice president of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Bid Committee.

Zhangjiakou, in Hebei Province, is about 200 km northwest of Beijing.

A high speed railway line between Beijing and Zhangjiakou is expected to start construction this year, which will cut the travel time between the two cities from more than three hours to about 50 minutes.

The committee will "mobilize all positive factors and do its best [...] to make the members of the International Olympic Committee [IOC] feel Beijing is the right choice," he said on Friday.

The Beijing municipal legislature on Friday passed a resolution to fully support the bid and urged the city government to closely coordinate with Hebei Province.

Beijing handed over its official bid to the IOC last month.

In March, an IOC evaluation delegation will arrive in Beijing. The other city in the running, Almaty in Kazakhstan, will be evaluated in February.

After the successful 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese public are very supportive of this new bid. About 95 percent of Chinese support the country's bid, according to a survey of 32 cities last year.

Despite Beijing's experience with big sports events, the public's support and its existing facilities, air pollution remains an issue.

Beijing has experienced bouts of smog in spring and winter over the past three years.

However, the city's PM2.5 density fell 4 percent last year, and it aims to see this drop by a further 5 percent this year. The city plans to close 300 polluting factories and invest 10.8 billion yuan (1.7 billion U.S. dollars) in air pollution projects.

Beijing, a city of more than 21 million people, has begun to relocate its non-essential functions, such as low-end manufacturing, wholesale markets and certain institutions.

Hebei will also cut pollution by slashing its excessive iron and steel, glass and cement capacities.

On Tuesday, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games Bid Committee named six promotion ambassadors, including former NBA star Yao Ming, and former figure skating world champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo.

IOC members will cast their votes on July 31, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Endi