Political leaders worldwide praise Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony

Special: 2022 Winter Olympics

The opening ceremony of the 24th Olympic Winter Games held on Friday evening at the National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest in Beijing, has drawn praise from political leaders across the world.

Organizers of the opening show aimed to combine the Olympic spirit with scientific and technological innovation and Chinese cultural elements, convey to the world a "green, inclusive, open and clean" approach to hosting the event, and encourage the world to work together to overcome challenges and move forward together for a shared future.

Singaporean President Halimah Yacob posted several pictures of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on her Facebook account.

She said she "was captivated by the spectacular show," adding that "the theme of humanity and sport was aptly captured with athletes worldwide coming together to spur one another on towards achieving sporting excellence."

"I thank our Chinese host for the warm hospitality and look forward to catching a couple of sporting events during the trip," said Yacob on Facebook.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tweeted his congratulations to Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people on having delivered an extraordinary opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, saying that "sports continue to unite the world."

Sommad Pholsena, vice president of the National Assembly of Laos, said China is set on hosting a green Olympic Games, with environmental protection a running theme during the ceremony for the first time.

Ermukhamet Ertysbayev, former minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, said the ceremony combined the Olympic spirit with Chinese elements, was a low carbon affair and conveyed the concept of "Together for a Shared Future" to the audience.