China News Service, Beijing, September 19 (Reporter Yin Li) The 2018 International Winter Sports Expo (Beijing) opened on Monday. More than 500 brands from Austria, Canada, Switzerland and other countries brought cutting-edge products of the ice and snow industry to Beijing, demonstrating the global "power of ice and snow" to help Beijing prepare for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Zhang Jiandong, vice mayor of Beijing and executive vice president of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, said at the opening ceremony that hosting the Expo is an important measure for Beijing to prepare for the Winter Olympics. From the past two Winter Olympics, the exhibition of snow and ice equipment and other items has attracted a large number of exhibitors, highlighting the huge potential for the development of the snow and ice industry. The ice and snow sports experience program has attracted wide participation from the public and played a leading role in guiding young people into ice and snow sports.
Yu Zaiqing, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), read a congratulatory message from IOC President Thomas Bach at the scene. Bach said that since the Winter Expo was held in 2016, it has become the best platform to promote the development of winter sports ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. It is a strong driving force to popularize ice and snow sports in China, help achieve the goal of "300 million people participating in ice and snow sports" and promote the rapid development of the ice and snow industry.
Juan Antonio Samaranch, vice president of the International Olympic Committee and chairman of the Beijing Winter Olympics Coordination Commission, said Beijing is the first city to host the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. He believes that Beijing will host the most intelligent Winter Olympics, which will use a variety of intelligent technologies to efficiently integrate natural, human and financial resources, so that the world can see that wisdom is the most powerful resource. A number of international sports associations, including the International Olympic Committee, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympics and the International Ski Federation, will work together to achieve this goal.
For the third year in a row, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympic Games (BOCOG) will be present in the exhibition area of the Expo. The theme exhibition will let the audience know the progress of the preparations for the Winter Olympic Games, the distribution of competition areas and venue planning, the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games sports and competition knowledge. It will also provide them with the opportunity to have a close contact with winter sports, so as to attract more people to experience and actively participate in ice and snow sports. In the Snow and Ice equipment exhibition area and interactive experience area, visitors can experience the snow slope, try curling, and feel the charm of ice and snow sports up close.
With the theme of "The Power of Ice and Snow", this Winter Expo integrates winter sports, ice and snow industry, tourism and leisure, youth training and other aspects through exhibitions, main forum + parallel forum, industry docking, special promotion and other forms, to comprehensively cover the ice and snow industry chain. (finish)