By He Yong, People’s Daily
With eight projects entering final stage and the construction of two venues being completed already, ten of the 13 construction projectsfor competition and training venues in the Beijing competition areafor the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Gamesare expected to be finished by the end of this year, according to a conference held on Sept. 10.
Eight projects involving the construction, transformation, or expansion of venues including National Speed Skating Hall, Capital Indoor Stadium, National Aquatics Center,Wukesong Indoor Stadium, and National Indoor Stadium are in their final stages, as revealed at the conferenceon tackling tough issues and winding up this year’s projects for venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The construction of the Shougang Ski Jumping Platform andthe “Ice Jar” comprehensive training center were completed in 2019 and May 2020 respectively.
All 15 ice rinks for competition and training for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be ready to produce ice before the end of this year.
Among the 13 projects, four are construction projects for new venues, seven are transformation projects for existing venues, and two are about construction oftemporary venues.
While ten of these projects are expected to be completed within this year, another three will be finished in 2021, including the transformation of the National Stadium, or the Bird’s Nest,which will stage the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the second phase of the China National Convention Center project which will serve as the main press center and the international broadcasting center of the Beijing Winter Olympics, as well as the Medals Plaza, a temporary facility for the event.
Relevant parties involved in these projects aim at holding a series of test events at the end of the year and ensuring that the construction and transformation of all the competition venues are completed within this year, said the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office.
Efforts have been made to strengthen overall planning and adjust and optimize relevant procedures in various projects, said the office, adding that multi-faceted measures have been taken to ensure the realization of the annual goal for the construction and transformation projects.
Two test events for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the 2020 International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix Final of Figure Skating and the 2020-2021 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup, have been scheduled for this December at the Capital Indoor Stadium. The transformation of the venue is going to be completed by the end of September.
So far, construction and transformation projects in the Beijing competition area and the Yanqing competition area have entered a final sprint stage. Relevant projects are picking up speed while ensuring high quality and high standard of construction according to various requirements and goals set by the various test events for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the Beijing municipal committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and the Beijing municipal government.
