Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged strict COVID-19 prevention measures for the 2022 Winter Olympics, following his two-day inspection of the preparatory work for the Games in the two host cities, Beijing and Zhangjiakou.

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Xi inspects Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic venues

China's winter sports in full swing as 2022 Winter Olympics approaches

He also called for replanning and readjusting all work in accordance with new circumstances while focusing on both epidemic prevention and control in the organization of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and expressed confidence that the Games would be a great success in a meeting he presided over in Beijing.

The development of winter sports should be promoted, said President Xi, hoping to better promote winter sports among 300 million people, and even more.

The foundation of building a sporting powerhouse lies in mass sports, he said during his visit to the alpine skiing competition venue in Yanqing District, Beijing on Monday.

With the Games approaching, the country is experiencing growing enthusiasm for skiing. In downtown Beijing, local residents could try skiing, the biathlon and floor curling at home thanks to a special event hosted last month.

At the Wednesday meeting, Xi also encouraged ideas for the future use of venues that could help construct a cultural and tourist belt that links Beijing with Zhangjiakou in north China's Hebei Province.

According to the Olympic Park Management Committee, the Winter Olympic Village – with a total of 25 competition and non-competition venues – is expected to be completed by June.

During Xi's Tuesday visit to the National Ski Jumping Center in Zhangjiakou, he learnt about the training equipment featuring high-tech innovations.

The coaching staff reported to the president that an intelligent decision support system is used in training to capture key indicators, including takeoff angle, postures, speed and jump distance. The staff also noted that the wind tunnel lab enables much greater efficiency in training.

Acknowledging their application of technology, Xi emphasized that winter sports can only be developed through technological innovations.

"I believe, through our efforts, we will be able to achieve fruitful results at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games next year," Xi said.

(Cover: Chinese President Xi Jinping talks with athletes and coaches while visiting the Capital Gymnasium in Haidian District, Beijing, capital of China, January 18, 2021. /Xinhua)

(With input from Xinhua)