China Headlines: Beijing undergoes Winter Olympics test

Beijing is holding its breath in anticipation of becoming the first city in the world to host both the summer and winter Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission arrived Monday to review Beijing and neighboring province Hebei's suitability to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The five-day inspection began in Beijing Tuesday with presentations and stadium tours. Wednesday saw the 19-member team visit the suburban county of Yanqing, which is a potential location for events such as the bobsled and alpine skiing, before the delegation headed to Zhangjiakou, Hebei.

Beijing is in a two-horse race with Almaty, Kazakhstan, following the withdrawal of a number of bidders.

On paper, the odds seem stacked in favor of Beijing -- it has solid experience of hosting international sporting events, strong financial support and infrastructure built for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The success of the 2008 Games demonstrates China's organizational prowess and also, in its favor, many of the first-class venues can be repurposed for the Winter Games, which, in the spirit of frugality advocated by IOC, will cut costs.

"Beijing's Olympic stadiums are the biggest advantage it has," said Yang Xiaochao, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee.

Should Beijing's bid be successful, most events will be held in existing venues. The Bird's Nest and the Water Cube aquatics center have both been proposed for reuse in 2022, meaning the city will only need to build one stadium to accommodate ice sports events.

Evaluation Commission Chairman Alexander Zhukov praised Beijing Tuesday for maximizing the use of its existing venues, while acknowledging its success in hosting major international sporting events.

Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun said among the city's "great strengths" was the strong support of sponsors, government financing departments and the public.

According to an opinion poll conducted last year by global market research company Ipsos, 94.8 percent of Chinese, including 91.8 percent in Beijing and 99.5 percent in Zhangjiakou, supported the 2022 bid.

A challenge facing Beijing's bid is air quality. But in the meantime, the Olympic bid has been seen by many to have brought much needed momentum to environmental efforts, and expectations are high that the government will expedite pollution programs and regulations.

In 2014, Beijing shut down 392 polluting companies, slashed coal use by 2.8 million tonnes and phased out many heavy-polluting cars. Last week, the city closed the third of its four coal-burning plants and the last is scheduled to close next year.

The National Development and Reform Commission said 1.5 billion yuan (241.5 million U.S. dollars) would be allocated to six localities, including Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, to help tackle air pollution.

In addition, Beijing had promised more than 40 billion yuan and enterprises would contribute 760 billion yuan to anti-pollution efforts, according to Wang Hui, deputy secretary general of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games Bid Committee.

The IOC will announce the host city on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Endi