A sign is placed on a table for members of the Beijing 2022 delegation at the start of the Executive Board meeting at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne, July 7, 2014. (Photo : REUTERS)
Beijing intensified its efforts for the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics by optimizing preparations for the visit of representatives from the IOC Evaluation Commission.
The IOC will vote between Beijing and Almaty in Kazakhstan in July.
Beijing's congress passed a resolution on Friday calling for all resources to be mobilized to prepare for the visit in March. The city is jointly bidding with Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province.
The Standing Committee of Beijing's congress called upon the municipal government to work closely with Hebei Province.
"We should meet every part of the IOC's host city standards to ease any potential concerns," said Wang Anshun, Beijing's mayor and the bid committee chairman.
Beijing officially applied as a candidate in January, responding to more than 200 questions and requirements raised by the IOC.
Wang Hui, the bid committee's publicity department head, noted that the Winter Olympics requires clean air and a good environment and that they should take tougher measures to cut the emission of air pollutants.
Beijing has adopted regulations to reduce the concentration of particulate matter that can penetrate the lungs by 2017.
Another disadvantage is Beijing's lack of snow, which the city suggests to resolve by using man-made snow.
Beijing's expert weather managers are faced with a huge challenge as precipitation around Beijing during mid-winter averages 2.5 millimeters, which is too little to guarantee a sprinkling.
Meanwhile, aspiring co-host Zhangjiakou has snowfall averages of only 1 meter per year, and the less-than-foot-deep snow that it could put on the ground is not enough.
