Harbin, China, January 11, 2024: The Chair of the Olympic Council of Asia Coordination Committee for the 9th Asian Winter Games, Mr. Timothy Fok, believes Harbin 2025 can build on the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
The OCA Vice President provided the welcome address at the first meeting of the OCA Coordination Committee for Harbin 2025 at the Shangri-La Hotel on Thursday and congratulated China on their impressive development of winter sports.
“Harbin is a wonderful and world-famous city for snow and ice sports, and Asia and the world are well aware of the enthusiasm and passion of the Chinese people for winter sports,” he said.
“China’s efforts to attract 300 million people to winter sports ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was a great success and I congratulate China on this staggering achievement.
“Harbin city and Heilongjiang province will benefit greatly from this explosion of interest in winter sports at the 9th Asian Winter Games.”
The President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Mr. Gao Zhidan, said the preparations for Harbin 2025 were in full swing and accelerating, and the first meeting of the newly established organising committee was held on Wednesday.
“We will carry forward the spirit of the Beijing Winter Olympics and continue to develop winter sports across China,” said Mr. Gao, who is also Minister of the General Administration of Sport in China and President of organising committee HAWGOC.
The Director General of the OCA, Mr. Husain Al-Musallam, said Harbin was unrecognizable from the previous time the city last hosted the AWG in 1996. “This is a totally different and new city, and congratulations on what you have done since 1996,” he said.
“We are very happy and proud with the impact that the Asian Winter Games 1996 changed Harbin, to a modern, dynamic and tourism state.”
Mr Al-Musallam said the OCA continued to develop winter sports throughout the continent, and that Asia would achieve an historic world-first in 2029 when Saudi Arabia hosts the 10th Asian Winter Games.
*Although the exact dates have not been fixed, the 9th AWG will be held in February 2025 with six sports, 11 disciplines and 64 events. The six sports are curling, ice hockey, skating, skiing, biathlon and ski mountaineering.
*The ice events will take place in downtown Harbin, while the snow events will be held at Yabuli Ski Resort, 193km from Harbin.
*Harbin is preparing to welcome 2,000 athletes and team officials, 1,000 technical officials and 2,000 media, and the organising committee is working on plans to involve as many of the OCA’s 45 National Olympic Committees as possible, even if some NOCs cannot send athletes.
*Participants will be accommodated in 15 hotels in the Harbin zone and 16 hotels in Yabuli zone. There will be 24 designated hospitals and 30 ski doctors on duty.
*The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Harbin International Conference Centre, and there are plans to recruit 6,600 volunteers.
*On January 10, Xinhua reported that Harbin – capital city of China’s northernmost province of Heilongjiang – is known as the “crown jewel of ice and snow” in the country.
The city has emerged as one of the top tourist destinations this winter. During this year’s three-day New Year holiday, Harbin welcomed a record 3.05 million tourists, raking in tourism revenue of 5.91 billion yuan (831 million USD).