President Xi Jinping (center) inspects the Taizicheng rail station, close to the competition venues and athletes' village of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, in Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei province, Jan 19, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
President Xi Jinping has stressed the importance of enabling greater public participation in winter sports, saying he is fully confident of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games' success.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the preparatory work for the Games on Monday－the fourth tour in the past four years－Xi reiterated the importance of promoting winter sports as part of a broader push to develop the nation into a global sporting power.
The foundation of building a sporting powerhouse lies in mass-participation sports and China's hosting of the Games should entail a higher national level of winter sports, especially snow sports, said President Xi Jinping
The foundation of building a sporting powerhouse lies in mass-participation sports and China's hosting of the Games should entail a higher national level of winter sports, especially snow sports, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
ALSO READ: Xi inspects Beijing 2022 preparatory work
Xi visited the Capital Gymnasium－the venue for skating events－in Beijing's Haidian district, where he spoke with athletes and coaches of China's national figure skating and short-track speedskating teams.
They briefed Xi on their preparations for the Games, due to be held in February 2022, and expressed confidence in winning gold medals.
Xi said the CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to the preparatory work for the Winter Games, and the Party and the people have offered tremendous support.
He said he was pleased to learn that the preparatory work is proceeding smoothly and the athletes' training is paying off.
President Xi Jinping (right) inspects the Taizicheng rail stationm close to the competition venues and athletes' village of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Gamesm in Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei province, Jan 19, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
During a visit to the National Alpine Skiing Center in Yanqing district, Xi learned about the operation of the venue and the training of the athletes.
He cheered on the athletes after they chanted morale-boosting words in unison as he departed from the skiing center.
On Tuesday, Xi took the high-speed railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, the co-host city of the event.
READ MORE: Xi inspects Zhangjiakou zone of Beijing 2022
The president inspected the Taizicheng railway station as well as several skiing venues for the Games and spoke with athletes, coaches, representatives of facility operation teams and construction workers.
President Xi Jinping (center) talks with athletes, coaches and representatives of operation teams and construction staff in the Zhangjiakou competition zone of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games while visiting the National Biathlon Center in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei province, Jan 19, 2021. (WANG YE / XINHUA)
Xi's remarks came as the CPC Central Committee's proposed blueprint for the next five years and objectives through 2035 has underlined the importance of ensuring a successful Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and building China into a leading sports nation by 2035.
China has already delivered on its pledge to complete all competition venues by the end of 2020, with other facilities set to be completed by July.
The International Olympic Committee said in a statement last month that the Ninth Olympic Summit, attended by leading representatives of the Olympic Movement, expressed its full commitment to and confidence in the 2022 Games.
The IOC noted that technical preparations for the Games are "going extremely well" despite challenges due to COVID-related restrictions.
xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn