French Foreign Minister congratulates Beijing on winning bid for 2022 Winter Olympics
Xinhua, August 2, 2015 Adjust font size:
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Saturday congratulated on Beijing's victory over the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
"I extend my congratulations to Beijing as the city's been elected to host the 2022 Winter Olympics," said Fabius in a statement.
"The exceptional mobilization of the Chinese authorities, as well as the professionalism and success of the 2008 Olympics, have contributed to this choice.
"I wish every success to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and I am sure they will effectively promote universal values held by sport," he added.
In the 128th session of the International Olympic Committee held in Kuala Lumpar, Beijing beat Kazakhstan's Almaty on Friday in a two-candidate race, winning 44 votes against 40.
The Chinese capital thus becomes the first city in history to host both summer and winter Games.
Just five weeks ago, Paris, which last hosted the Olympics in 1924, officially announced to bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The French capital narrowly missed out to London for staging the 2012 Games, following failed bids for the 2008 and 1992 editions respectively to Barcelona and Beijing.
The IOC will decide on the shorlist of the candidate cities in 2016, before selecting the host city in summer 2017. Enditem