Beijing 2022 Campaign Backed by Widespread Public Support

(ATR) Beijing’s Olympic bid is supported by nearly 95 percent of the Chinese population, according to an opinion poll in the city’s 2022 dossier.

The joint bid by Beijing and Zhangjiakou made its three-volume book available to the public on Monday. The Chinese capital is vying to become the first city to host both the summer and winter Games, following the 2008 Olympics.

According to the dossier, Beijing 2022’s concepts – athletes-centred Games, ensuring sustainable development, and hosting economical Games and solid legacy plans "are in total accord with the goals of the Olympic Movement and the reforms proposed in the Olympic Agenda 2020."

"Joyful rendezvous upon pure ice and snow" is Beijing’s vision and incorporates the following goals: to spread and practise Olympism and Olympic values; ignite the passion for all-round development of winter sports in China; and become a new model that drives the sustainable development of the region.

Venues

A total of 12 competition venues are proposed. Six are existing venues, including legacy venues from the Beijing 2008 Olympics, which will require some renovation. Among the six newly built venues, the National Speed Skating Oval, the Biathlon Centre and the Nordic Centre Ski Jumping Venue are planned constructions and will be built regardless of whether Beijing secures the 2022 Games.

Government Support

Fully supported by the Chinese government and city administrations in Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the bid is part of a national strategy to develop the region.

Public Support

A total of 91.8 percent of Beijing residents and 99.5 percent of Zhangjiakou citizens are backing the quest to bring the 2022 Games to China, according to polling by global market research company Ipsos conducted in January 2014. The study, covering 32 Chinese cities, shows that 94.8% of the Chinese people, support the bid.

Communications Budget

Perhaps a first for an Olympic bid dossier, Beijing details three phases of its communications strategy from 2016 to the opening of the Games. The budget is $35.2 million.

OCOG and Venues Budget

The budget in 2022 terms is projected as $1.98 billion. The non-OCOG capital investments budget – for competition and non-competition venues – is estimated at $1.92 billion.

Dates

The bid proposes Feb. 4 to 20 for Olympics. Paralympics would be from March 4 to 13.

Addressing IOC Concerns

The IOC raised few criticisms of Beijing 2022 in its technical analysis of the initial bid application submitted last March. The main one appeared to focus on the traffic congestion in Beijing being a major challenge for the city. All venues are said to be within a short travel time from the Olympic Village. But the IOC said "significant road traffic management measures would be necessary to ensure the consistent and reliable travel times."

Beijing 2022 clarified the travel times to ATR. It said the main Olympic Village is within a 15-minute ride from the stadium for the opening/closing ceremonies, venues for ice sports, the IOC hotel, the IBC and the MPC. Regarding Yanqing Olympic Village, it will take only five minutes for athletes and team officials to reach the National Sliding Centre and ten minutes to reach the Alpine ski centre. As for Zhangjiakou Olympic Village, the bid said all competition venues are within four kilometres or a five-minute ride from the Village.

In its bid book, Beijing 2022 has responded to IOC concerns by saying that a high-speed rail link will help realize "the rapid transfer" between the three zones of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. It will be operational in 2019. High-standard roads connecting the venues in the Zhangjiakou Zone and the Yanqing Zone are under construction or renovation as scheduled.

"At Games-time, a well-designed road network traffic management system and dedicated Olympic Lanes will guarantee the smooth and reliable operation and Games-time transport," the bid book said.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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