Carry Forward the Spirit of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics and Build China into a Strong Sporting Nation

Carry Forward the Spirit of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics and Build China into a Strong Sporting Nation*

April 8, 2022

A great cause nurtures a great spirit, and a great spirit promotes a great cause. All of you involved in the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games cherished this opportunity. Throughout the process of bidding, organizing and hosting the Games, you have fostered a spirit of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics – having a broad vision, staying confident and open, rising to the occasion, pursuing excellence, and creating a better future together.

By having a broad vision, you have kept the interests of our country at heart and aimed high. You regarded the preparation and hosting of the Games as an important national mission, and you saw it as your duty to win glory for China and as an honor to make your contribution. You took on great responsibilities, united as one, and strove for excellence for our country and the people.

By staying confident and open, you have been graceful, open and accommodating. You have remained confident in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. You have creatively presented China’s rich and profound cultural heritage. You have demonstrated the visions of the ancient Chinese civilization in a style of simplicity. You have demonstrated the sincerity and friendship of the Chinese people with your hospitality. And you have promoted mutual understanding and friendship among different peoples through sports exchanges.

By rising to the occasion, you have worked hard, persevered, and maintained high morale in the face of daunting challenges and met them head-on.

By pursuing excellence, you have been dedicated and meticulous in all preparations. You stuck to the highest standards, met the most demanding requirements, refined every plan and measure, sought perfection, and achieved one success after another.

By endeavoring to create a better future together, you have worked in coordination, interaction and cooperation. You responded to the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic motto “Together for a Shared Future” and the new Olympic motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together”, and, with the future of China and the wider world in mind, you called on all of humanity to build a global community of shared future.

Seven years of meticulous preparation ensured the success of the Games, and now we are ready to move to the next stage. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics are a landmark event held at a crucial time as all of us in the Party and the country are striving towards the Second Centenary Goal of building a modern socialist country. As we forge ahead, we should make the most of the legacy of the Games.

The Games have left us not only with venues and facilities, but even more importantly, cultural heritage and a talent pool. These are all valuable assets; we must exploit them, convert them into new drivers for development, and use them to the full.

We will strengthen strategic planning and make better use of sports venues and facilities to make ice and snow sports more popular. We will develop the winter economy, hold a range of ice and snow sports activities, and encourage public participation.

We will fully tap into the cultural legacy of the Games to boost confidence in Chinese culture, make China’s voice heard around the globe, and tell China’s stories in an engaging way.

We will stay true to humanitarianism, respect and safeguard human rights, and improve social security for people with disabilities and the systems of care and services. We will promote all-round development of programs for people with disabilities, and encourage and support them in making sustained efforts for self-improvement. As a vision-impaired athlete said at the Games, “I cannot see the world, but I want the world to see me.”

We will promote throughout society volunteerism, characterized by dedication, friendship, mutual support, and pursuit of excellence; and we will fully leverage the role of volunteers in promoting social progress.

We will carry forward the Olympic spirit, turn the Games into an opportunity for promoting peace and development, and contribute China’s vision and strength to human progress.

Our success in hosting the Games has stimulated enthusiasm for sports among hundreds of millions of Chinese and energized China’s sports development. We will endeavor to build up the physique and improve the physical fitness and the quality of life of the whole nation. We will fully leverage the important role of sports in advancing well-rounded development of the person. We will continue to boost reform and innovation in promoting sports. We will strengthen research and development in sports science and technology. We will improve public fitness programs and encourage the public and in particular the young people to keep fit through sports. We will promote China’s overall strength and performance in sports, increase its international competitiveness, and redouble our efforts to build China into a strong sporting nation.

We have realized our dream of hosting the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and we are now continuing our journey towards the future. Let us rally even more closely around the Party Central Committee; let us be inspired by the spirit of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics; let us forge ahead with greater resolve and confidence to realize the Second Centenary Goal and the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

* Part of the speech at a meeting to review the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and commend outstanding individuals and groups.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)