ATR Exclusive -- Beijing Winter Olympic Bid Part of "Chinese Dream"

(ATR) A once improbable Winter Olympic bid from Beijing could be the one to beat.

The Chinese capital is one of three candidates cities for the 2022 Games, but its two rivals are sputtering, perhaps dropping out before the race is over next July. Oslo has widely reported issues with poor levels of public support across Norway. Almaty is showing the strains of disorganization as a result of a government reshuffle in Kazakhstan..

So, while other cities sort out problems, Beijing cruises ahead with its campaign to become the first city to host Summer and Winter Olympic Games. But there is more to the Beijing story then this historical coincidence.

Beijing organizers say they can provide a "frugal" Winter Olympics with the use of venues remaining from the 2008 Games, such as the Bird’s Nest Stadium for opening and closing ceremonies. While existing venues in Beijing will work fine for events such as skating and hockey, the Chinese capital is not known as a place for the mountains needed for Alpine and other ski events.

That’s where Zhangjiakou comes in, a mountainous area about 170 km north of Beijing. Zhangjiakou already has a few modest ski runs, but would require substantial development to be suitable to host a winter Olympics. Beijing organizers say the Olympics would be a powerful economic development tool for a poor region of the country, at the same time stimulating interest in winter sports from China.

But 170km north of Beijing? A high-speed rail will be built to make the journey between city venues and mountain venues about 30 minutes. The railroad is the biggest infrastructure project associated with the Olympic bid, but organizers say the line will be built regardless of the success of the campaign for the Games. And is there any doubt that Beijing can deliver this project? None.

Unlike Oslo or Almaty, Beijing has no struggle for consensus in its quest for the winter games. Around the Rings is told that Chinese President Xi Jinping is asking for support of the bid when he meets with world leaders. Xi believes the winter Olympics are part of what he has termed the "Chinese dream", a goal to make the country a world leader in as many fields as possible.

Headquartered in the building that housed the organizing committee for the Beijing Olympics, a couple dozen staff are already at work refining the bid documents that need to be submitted to the IOC in just four months time. The look of the games still pervades the building and countdown clocks are preserved as relics in glass enclosures in the front of the building.While the furniture may be the same, the people are not. Most of the team working on the 2022 Winter Olympic bid were not involved with the Beijing Olympics of 2008. One notable exception may be Wang Hui, an elegant figure who was media chief in 2008 and will play a major role in communications for the winter bid.

The same building where I visited many times in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, once again became a destination for me last month where I met with leaders of the bid committee. Beijing vice mayor Yang Xiaochao,the head of the bid committee, spent 45 minutes explaining the philosophy behind the bid and the benefits he says a Winter Olympics would bring. His comments come across with confidence and weave a story that may be very attractive to the IOC.

Around the Rings: It’s everybody’s surprise around the world to be considering Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Why does Beijing want the Winter Olympics?

Beijing Vice Mayor: I’d like to discuss what kind of Winter Olympics Beijing would like to host. We would like to run a Winter Olympics that ignites the torch for winter sports in China. China is not strong in winter sports because of the climate, geography, economy, and other factors. There is an uneven development level for winter sports in China, and most winter sports are concentrated to three northeast provinces in China.

In 2006, China won their first gold medal in the winter Olympics, and that spurred the passion for China to participate in winter sports. In terms of athletic sports, China has performed well on ice events and achieved great performance in short track, speed skating, and figure skating. There are an increasing number of people who love winter sports like snow sports and ice sports.

There is also a rapid development of facilities in and around Beijing for these sports. Every winter, there is an excess of two million people going skiing in and around Beijing. In addition to ski resorts in the area, these skiers go to the districts of Zhangjiakou. Ice sports are also gaining more fans, especially among young people. There are 70 registered ice hockey clubs, and there are more than 100 clubs if you count unregistered ones. We didn’t know much about winter sports in Beijing before the bid, and we were surprised to know there were skating clubs in cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou. There has been progress in public participation in winter sports.

If the 2022 Olympics were held in Beijing, it would encourage more people to get involved in winter sports. China has a vast population. If the Winter Olympics were hosted in Beijing, we estimate that 200 million to 300 million people in the area could be encouraged to participate in winter sports. In addition to such elements regarding sports, the president has proposed the Chinese Dream, which is about the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

A component of that dream is a healthy population, so the president has given great importance to sport, and would like people to work out and build up their health. Without a healthy population, there would not be a realization of the Chinese dream.

People have commented that Beijing is a famous city for the Olympic movement after 2008. Beijing has set a new target to become the center of sports. After the Olympics in 2008, Beijing has hosted and will be hosting lots of international competitions, such as the track and field championships next year. We are also applying for bidding rights for lots of competitions.

The biggest legacy of the Olympic Games is not the facilities, but the love of sports. Forty nine percent of residents in Beijing participate in sports in a regular basis.

After discussing sports, I would like to address the question from a perspective of economic and social development. You may not know the area around Beijing. China suffers from disparity in terms of levels of development. If you go out of Beijing no more than 100km, you will find a totally different environment. For example, Zhangjiakou is only 170km away from Beijing, but the per capita GDP is a third of Beijing’s, and the per capita income is half of Beijing. Other areas have similar situations.

Therefore, we are now implementing a strategy where Beijing and Tianjin would seek integrated and coordinated development with other provinces. The planning department of the central government, as well as counterparts in municipal governments, is now developing regional plans in order to get sound and rapid development for the entire province. As you know, our big events will give a strong boost to economic and social development. That has been evidenced by the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. I believe that a top level international event will give a strong boost to integrated development in the regions of Beijing and Tianjin.

This will help Beijing and the neighboring areas to promote economic and social development, including infrastructure buildup, development of transportation systems, tourism, and cultural sports facilities. Of course, even if we’re not hosting the Olympics, we’ll still do the same job, but hosting the Games will give a strong boost to all these endeavors. So we consider the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics in the context of national and regional development and social connections.

Thirdly, we will host the Olympics in a frugal way.If the Olympic Games can be hosted in Beijing, than we will make full use of the venues used in the 2008 Summer Olympics. According to our estimates, we will need 12 venues for the Winter Olympics, with four to five of them being newly built. The rest will be based on existing facilities. So frugality will apply to the bidding and hosting processes. We are considering how to make the best use of the existing facilities, for during and after the Olympics.

We are also contemplating how to develop transportation and auxiliary facilities can be developed for these venues, so these venues can be developed for the whole region. We are trying to make the hosting of the Olympic Games and the pursuit of economic development mutually complimentary.

Last but not least, we’d like to host Olympic Games that feature purity, passion, and joy. We associate ourselves with the values of the Olympic movement and we’d like to welcome all kinds of athletes, officers, and people to China. We will build a pure natural environment, a pure human environment, and a pure athletic environment for everyone to enjoy the passion and joy of the Olympic Games.

If Beijing won the bid for the 2022 Games, it would be a win for China, a win for Beijing, and a win for the Olympic Movement. The winter Olympic Games, if hosted in Beijing, will contribute to the popularity of winter sports in China, economic and social development in the region, and with more people participating in sports, the Chinese athletes will perform better in the Olympic movement, and that’s a contribution we will make.

Therefore, after very serious consideration to bid for the Games, we adopted a serious and responsible attitude towards it.

ATR: Are these Winter Olympics part of the Chinese dream that the president of China has been speaking about? Is the president of China fully supporting the idea of the Olympics coming to Beijing?

BVM: The Chinese government has given all their support to the joint bid from Beijing and Zhangjiakou. President Xi Jinping has heard the progress report several times and has said on various occasions that he supports the joint bid. While making overseas trips, the president has told foreign leaders that he would like to see the international community support China’s bid.

The Chinese dream is the dream of a healthy and a strong population. If the population is weak, that Chinese dream will not be physically based and that dream, even if realized, is not complete. Bidding and hosting an important international sports event will boost participation in sports and the development of athletic sports in China. In this connection, the bid is a part of China’s dream. At least we can say the Winter Olympics can help the Chinese dream be realized better.

ATR: You said these would be frugal Olympics. The Beijing Olympics in 2008 are known for the large amount of money spent creating venues in the city. You still need to build high-speed rail, among other projects. What do you say about the investment that needs to be made in order to successfully host the Olympic Games? What does China need to spend and what does Beijing need to spend?

BVM: We are estimating the investment, because that is a part of the candidature reports that need to be submitted. The IOC has raised requirements on the budgeting of the Olympics in the candidature report. That requirement calls for distinction between cost of operating the Games and cost of developing the Games. While developing the budget, we are also assessing the investment that needs to be made around the Olympics. We are doing this item by item, and we are also trying to consider what the investment is that we are called upon for economic and social development.

Let’s talk about the high speed rail between Beijing and Zhangjiakou. Of course, it’s indispensable transportation for the bid and for hosting, but the planning for that railway started four or five years ago. With or without the Olympic Games, that rail line will be built. It is difficult to assess if it’s an investment made around the Olympics or if it’s just necessitated by economic and social development.

While designing our venues, infrastructure, and auxiliary facilities, we try to make those facilities viable for both the Olympic Games and post-games usage. This dual purpose design makes budgeting difficult, because we have to judge if it’s an investment for the Olympics, around the Olympics, or otherwise. You must have a good knowledge of the cost for the Olympics because that is the money spent on the competition during the Olympics. According to the information we accessed, the cost for both PyeongChang and Sochi was less than $2 billion for both.

We estimate the opportunities to get income from market development, ticket sales, and sponsors. According to our estimate, 90% of the cost for running the Olympics can be covered by market development.

ATR: What are the major venues you have to build to hold the Olympics in Beijing and Zhangjiakou?

BVM: Briefly, according to our plan, all of the ice events will be hosted in Beijing. All but two snow events will be hosted in Zhangjiakou. The two exceptions will be hosted between the two cities. For the ice sports, Beijing lacks a speed skating facility. All other ice sports can be based on existing facilities in Beijing.

In the three areas in Zhangjiakou, there are more than 90 ski trails. We hope to retrofit them so they live up to the styles and standards of the Olympic Games. In terms of the county between Beijing and Zhangjiakou, we will need to build facilities for luge, bobsleigh, and alpine skiing.

ATR: One of the questions for Beijing’s winter Olympic bid is the fact that PyeongChang in South Korea has 2018 Winter Olympics, Tokyo has the 2020 Summer Olympics, and you are now proposing Winter Olympics in Asia again for 2022. How do you convince the IOC that it’s okay to come to Asia three times in a row? What is your strategy for that?

BVN: That question has been raised in China. There is no IOC rule that the Olympics cannot be hosted in the same continent consecutively. In the 1950s, five Olympic Games were hosted in a row in Europe; in the 1990s, three were hosted in a row in Europe.

All countries will need to get support from the IOC and get support from publicity to win the support for the bid. Necessary as such publicity is, we still need to do our own jobs right. Our strategy is to do our own things right. We would like to be careful planning and designing so we can come up with scientific and reasonable arrangements to provide athletes, officers, referees, and the Olympic families with the best events and services. This is the target standards to uphold and this is also what we will bring into our design and our commitments being made for the bid.

What happened in 2008 proved that China has the capabilities, the sincerity, and the responsibility to host a successful summer Olympic Games. We need to prove to the world that we have an equal amount of capability, sincerity, and responsibility to host an equally successful winter games. The precondition of that is to do the best job we can.

Interview conducted by Ed Hula.

Transcription by Andrew Murrell.

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