On February 1, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics delegation heads meeting was held online. Cai Qi, secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and chairman of Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony.

On Feb. 1st, IOC President Thomas Bach addressed the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Delegation Heads Meeting.    Photo by Zhang Chenlin, Xinhua News Agency  

Cai extended sincere greetings to everyone on behalf of the Beijing 2022 and pointed out that the Chinese government attaches great importance to preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics. President Xi Jinping recently inspected the three competition zones of the Beijing Winter Olympics and during a phone call with IOC President Bach, both expressed the firm support for the Beijing Winter Olympics, "which has further strengthened our confidence and determination to hold the Winter Olympics as scheduled".

Cai pointed out that Beijing 2022 has worked closely with IOC and NOCs to fully implement the concept of a green, inclusive, open, and clean Olympics, and the preparations are efficient and successful. Cai hoped everyone works hand in hand to do a good job in preparation of the Winter Olympics and prevention and control of the pandemic to ensure safe and smooth progress of the Winter Olympics.

In his speech, Bach said that China has performed well in dealing with Covid-19 and the International Olympic Committee is full of confidence in the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics. He said that NOCs, Beijing 2022 and IOC will work together to cope with the challenges of the pandemic and contribute to the realization of the Winter Olympic dreams of athletes around the world. The 2-day delegation heads meeting was a formal meeting between the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and the Olympic Committees of participating countries (regions). It was a comprehensive test of whether the preparations meet the operational standards.

Leaders of Beijing 2022 including Zhang Jiandong, Yang Shuan and Han Zirong, the heads of relevant departments of the International Olympic Committee, and more than 170 representatives from the Olympic Committees of 84 countries (regions) participated in the meeting.