Chinese Vice Premier urges solid preparing for Winter Olympics

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Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also leader of the 24th Winter Olympics work committee, urged the Beijing 2022 organizers to stay committed to delivering a "fantastic, extraordinary and excellent" Olympic Winter Games that will be held in Beijing and neighboring Zhangjiakou City, north China's Hebei Province.

Han made the remarks on Tuesday at a high-level meeting attended by officials from relevant government departments, along with the heads of Beijing Municipality and Hebei Province.

With less than three years to go before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics open, the seven-year preparation period has passed its halfway point. Han stressed that preparations start to shift focus from venue construction to the management and operation of competition centers.

He stressed venue construction must meet Olympic standards and be completed on time so that pre-tournament test events can take place as scheduled, adding that more effort needs to be made in areas including accommodation, catering, transport, security, and medical services.

Beijing 2022 announced last year that the first official Olympic test event will be held at the National Alpine Ski Center in the capital's Yanqing District in February 2020.

Han urged Beijing 2022 organizers to make full use of the test events to improve the management and operation of venues. "We should try to fix any problems encountered during the test events and then create an efficient model of venue operation," he said.

A series of winter-related sports competitions, under the motto "Meeting in Beijing," will be held at the venues.

The organizing committee will also carry out various promotional initiatives related to the Games, such as the 1,000-day countdown ceremony, collecting Olympics-themed songs and slogans, and creative cultural designs like the mascot.

(With input from Xinhua)