1st Ld-Writethru: China approves renewable energy zone in Winter Olympics candidate city

The State Council, or China's cabinet, has approved the establishment of a renewable energy demonstration zone in Zhangjiakou city, which is jointly bidding with Beijing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The city, some 200 kilometers away from Beijing, boasts rich wind and solar resources and is one of the country's planned new energy bases.

The city plans to build a low-carbon Olympic area in the demonstration zone, which aims to fully rely on renewable energy to provide electricity and heating to the Olympic center and venues.

It also mulls to build a renewable energy innovation center, a commercial area, and a high-end manufacturing cluster, as well as a demonstration zone for agricultural renewable energy recycling use.

By 2020, 55 percent of the power consumption in the demonstration zone will come from renewable energy, and 40 percent of the industrial companies will realize zero carbon emissions, according to the plan.

All of the city's public transport will be fuelled by renewable energy, the plan added.

Mao Yushan, deputy head of Hebei Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said the demonstration zone will help promote the coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and improve environment for the region.

As Beijing's partner in the Winter Olympic bid, Zhangjiakou is expected to host the biathlon, Nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboard, and freestyle skiing events. Almaty, Kazakhstan, is the other candidate city vying for the event.

The International Olympic Committee will announce the vote on the host city on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur. Endi