The Olympic City Development Forum, part of the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo 2020 (WWSE 2020), was held at the China National Convention Center, Beijing on September 6, 2020. Wang Wei, vice chairman of the Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA), delivered a speech at the event.

Wang said the Olympic City Development Forum had seen significant development in recent few years as part of the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo (WWSE), playing a big part in driving development of the ice and snow sports industry, publicizing Olympic legacy and supporting the 2022 Winter Olympics. He praised the innovative practice of hosting the WWSE 2020 and the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at the same time, saying that the WWSE 2020 and the forum had opened a new chapter.

“Themed ‘Olympic Legacy Inheritance: New Perspectives and New Opportunities’, the forum offers us a new perspective on new opportunities for the development of Olympic movement, the inheritance of Olympic legacy and the development of the host cities. 

“Mr. Thomas Bach said, ‘With every crisis comes an opportunity. Let us take this opportunity in a way of unity and creativity to emerge from this crisis even stronger than before. The post-coronavirus world will need sport, and we are ready to contribute to shaping it with our Olympic values.’ This has boosted our confidence in the beautiful future of the Olympic movement.”

Wang added that, considering the critical role of the 2022 Winter Olympics for the future development of the Olympic movement, Beijing is pushing ahead with a strategic plan based on the Olympic Agenda 2020 to create new Olympic legacy which can provide new impetus for the Olympic movement and the sustainable development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

He said that BODA had been going all out to ensure the success of the WWSE, support the preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and make contributions to the staging of a fantastic, excellent and extraordinary Beijing 2022 Games.

“We will adapt ourselves to new conditions, embrace new concepts, explore new methods, develop new projects and take on new roles to seek new development. We will adhere to our mission to inherit and pass on the legacy of Summer and Winter Olympics and to make new contributions to the sustainable development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region,” Wang said.