China welcomes media from all countries to cover the Winter Olympic Games and will, as always, protect their rights and interests and will facilitate their reporting, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Thursday.

China encourages the journalists to offer constructive suggestions but opposes making up fake news and information under the excuse of freedom of the press to smear China and the Beijing Winter Olympics, Wang Wenbin told a press briefing.

As many as 2,500 reporters and photographers have applied to report the Games.