On January 23, Zhang Jiandong, deputy mayor of Beijing, delivered a speech on preparations for the Winter Olympics at a group meeting of the Yanqing delegation. Zhang said that great progress was made in the construction of venues and infrastructure, and all 12 competition venues were completed. At the same time, the Winter Olympics test events were planned to be held in the form of domestic competitions and last about 10 days in February and April, respectively, this year.

According to Zhang, all the 12 competition venues for the Beijing Winter Olympics were completed, non-competition venues are being steadily built, and the Winter Olympic villages in the three competition zones were generally completed.

The Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-speed Railway and Beijing-Chongli Expressway were opened to traffic, and the construction of water, electricity, meteorological and other infrastructural facilities was proceeding simultaneously.

In terms of event organization and service guarantee, operation teams for all competition venues were all set up, the unit competition schedule was determined, and preparations for the test activities were well made. We established and improved the competition service mechanism, defined 41 designated medical and health institutions, 103 contracted hotels, and 38 sponsors of various levels.

All competition venues will use 100% green power, and four ice venues will realize zero greenhouse gas emissions.

In October this year, the preparations for the Winter Olympics will enter the Games-time operation phase.

The Yanqing competition zone is one of the three competition zones of the Winter Olympics, and is also the most difficult one in terms of construction. "Starting from scratch, the builders have completed the construction of the world-class national alpine skiing center and the national sliding center. The builders have created a miracle," said Zhang.

In terms of venue operation, the Yanqing venue cluster was formed, and cadres were dispatched to the venue operation team for centralized work. Zhang emphasized that we should further optimize the venue operation plan and emergency response plan in accordance with Games-time standards, formulate a good plan for pandemic prevention and control, strengthen teamwork and collaboration, and ensure safe and smooth operation during the Games.

According to Zhang, the plan is to have two 10-day tests in February and April, respectively, in the form of domestic competitions. In response to domestic pandemic situation, the snow test held in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou in February took the form of citywide competitions.

"Although the form of tests is changed and the scale is reduced, all test content will be completed. Meanwhile, pandemic prevention and control is still an important task." Zhang emphasized the earnest fulfilling of jurisdiction responsibilities.