On the morning of February 27th, the first high-level coordination meeting of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (Beijing 2022) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was held by video, marking the formalisation of the high-level coordination mechanism for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. Cai Qi, Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and President of Beijing 2022, and Andrew Parsons, President of the IPC, delivered speeches.

The first high-level coordination meeting of Beijing 2022 and the IPC

Wang Zhengpu, Deputy Secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, Governor and Executive President of Beijing 2022, Zhang Haidi, President of the China Disabled Persons' Federation and Executive President of Beijing 2022, and Zhang Yankun, Deputy Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress also attended the event.

In his speech, Cai Qi, on behalf of Beijing 2022, welcomed President Parsons, the IPC and all stakeholders. He said that Chinese President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the preparations for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. He has made on-site inspections in the competition zones many times and issued a series of important instructions, pointing out directions for the successful delivery of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

Cai said that after the Olympic Winter Games closed, Beijing 2022 entered the Paralympic Winter Games period. The conversion of venues, service guarantees, media broadcasting, and landscape signs to the Paralympic Winter Games standards and look has been essentially completed. Venue operation, pandemic prevention and control, and accessibility work has been fully affirmed by experts from the IPC and all related preparations have also been essentially completed.

“We are fully confident that the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will be successfully held and the two Games will be equally exciting,” Cai said. “We will strengthen communication and cooperation with the IPC, listen carefully to the opinions of all stakeholders, promptly resolve relevant requests and respond to the concerns of all participants, so as to jointly make this Paralympic Winter Games a complete success.”

President Parsons highly praised the preparations for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games and thanked Beijing 2022 for their significant efforts. He said that during the preparations for the Winter Paralympics, China actively promoted the development of sports for people with disabilities, attracting more and more people with disabilities to participate in winter sports. The surpporting services of the Paralympic Winter Games are detail-oriented, providing all participants a better experience.

President Parsons said that the thoughtful and meticulous service of the volunteers has made everyone truly feel the enthusiasm of the Chinese people. He added that the IPC is very much looking forward to this edition of the Paralympic Winter Games, and hopes that the IPC and Beijing 2022 will continue to maintain smooth and close communication and work together to allow athletes to enjoy the Games and achieve impressive results. 

Source: Beijing2022