On September 21, the start of the 500-day countdown to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (Beijing Organising Committee), the General Office of the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and other departments jointly hosted the “Forum on a Sustainable Beijing 2022 Volunteering Programme” themed “Be an Olympic Volunteer in the Two-time Host City of Beijing”. The "Proposal for Widely Implementing Volunteer Service Activities to Welcome the Winter Olympics" was officially released at the forum.

The number of registered volunteers for the Beijing Winter Olympics has currently exceeded 870,000. Considering the challenges brought by the Covid-19 epidemic, the Volunteer Department of the Beijing Organising Committee has taken its impact and uncertainties into account.

According to Teng Shengping, director of the Volunteer Department of the Beijing Organising Committee, the Committee has made work adjustments in advance and formulated emergency plans; in view of the uniqueness of ice and snow sports, the Committee plans to impart more knowledge on ice and snow sports, and safety protection for volunteers; for events in the three competition zones, the training and protection of volunteers will be coordinated by unified planning and standards, especially arrangements for transportation, boarding and lodging.

The Beijing Organising Committee has also formulated the "Guiding Opinions on Volunteer Incentive Work for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games", and strived to establish a "full-member, full-process and all-round" incentive system, which is China’s first dedicated large-scale event volunteer incentive work guidance.

A number of guests made speeches on volunteer service activities at the Winter Olympics. Professor Zhang Yi, director of the Chinese Volunteer Service Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that as Covid-19 prevention and control becomes a part of daily life, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of 5G technology to innovate the concept and model of voluntary service, in addition to strengthening epidemic prevention and control education and training. Bai Yansong, host of China Central Radio and Television and vice president of the China Youth Volunteers Association, called on volunteers to act as a calling card of the national image and good messengers of cultural exchanges, spread China stories, and show the world China's outlook in the new era.

The "Proposal for Widely Implementing Volunteer Service Activities to Welcome the Winter Olympics" was released at the forum. It was jointly initiated by the Beijing Organising Committee, the General Office of the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Ministry of Education, the General Administration of Sport of China, the China Disabled Persons’ Federation and the China Volunteer Service Federation. From the five aspects of participating in the Winter Olympics volunteer service, promoting winter sports, civilized practices, exchanges and caring actions, the proposal calls on all volunteer organizations and volunteers across China to carry forward the Olympic spirit, meet the goals of volunteer services and create a good atmosphere in the whole society to welcome the Winter Olympics and foster healthy tendencies