Beijing 'safe bet' as 2022 Winter Olympics host

Beijing is a risk-free choice as host city of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, said Wang Hui, spokeswoman for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee.

With ready-made facilities and government support, the capital is highly confident of its ability to receive Olympians worldwide with its safe and warm hospitality if it wins the right to host the Games, Wang said at a recent media briefing on the city's bidding process.

"If the International Olympic Committee and the entire Olympic family select Beijing, they select safety and guarantee. Beijing is a zero-risk candidate for host of the 2022 Games," said Wang, who served as the deputy press director of the 2008 Olympics.

Beijing and surrounding city Zhangjiakou in Hebei province launched a joint bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics in November 2013.

The IOC will select the 2022 host city on July 31, 2015, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Beijing bid committee will attend the assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Bangkok on Nov 7, Wang said.

Wang Anshun, the mayor of Beijing and chief of the Beijing bid committee, will make a presentation at the ANOC meeting to better promote its bidding plan and brief the Olympic family about its preparations so far.

"It's an international debut for the bid committee," Wang said. "We will show the world our commitment and capabilities to host a successful Winter Olympic Games."

The mayor's presentation will focus on three major advantages of Beijing: its athlete-centered services and accessibility of facilities, its efficient preparation and operation, and the sustainability of post-Games development as well as promotion of winter sports.

The positive feedback from officials of the international sports federations including skating, ice hockey and curling who visited Beijing recently to inspection facilities has further motivated Beijing in its bid, Wang said.

"We have written our official bidding report, which we will hand to the IOC next January. The IOC will send a team to examine and assess Beijing's preparation for the bid next March, and we are confident of impressing them then," Wang said.