(Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Sunday with Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Thomas Bach, honorary life president of the IOC, in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong province.
Ms Coventry and Mr Bach were in China to attend the opening ceremony of the country’s 15th National Games.
According to Mr. Xi, the Olympic spirit is an important element of human civilization, it carries people’s aspirations for a better world, and is in perfect line with China’s vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity.
“China has always firmly practiced, upheld and promoted the Olympic spirit,” Xi said, adding that in recent years, China and the IOC have supported each other to promote the development of sports and made many great and wonderful achievements.
“At the beginning of this year, we gathered in Harbin to watch the Asian Winter Games, when the city was covered in ice and snow. Today, we meet in Guangzhou, a warm and spring-like city, for the National Games. This demonstrates the strong and close partnership between China and the IOC,” Xi added.
China is ready to deepen high-level cooperation with the IOC and promote the Olympic Movement while developing into a sports power, contribute more wisely and forcefully to global sports governance, and make more contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Chinese president said.
The National Games is China’s largest and grandest multi-sport event, Xi noted, adding that this edition is co-hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
Noting that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is one of the most open and economically dynamic regions in China, Xi said the aim of promoting the development of the region is to make it a strategic foundation for China’s new development vision, a demonstration zone for high-quality development, and a pioneer of China’s modernization.
He expressed confidence that this year’s National Games will not only showcase China’s new sporting achievements in the new era, but also the remarkable progress of China’s modernization in the Greater Bay Area.
Ms. Coventry and Mr. Bach expressed their joy at being in Guangzhou to witness the exceptional dynamism and achievements of China’s modernization in the Greater Bay Area.
Welcoming China’s active commitment to the Olympic Spirit and its significant contribution to the Olympic Movement, they said that the IOC is grateful for the strong and long-standing support provided by China, and would like to further strengthen its cooperation with China to promote the Olympic Movement and spread the Olympic Spirit to a wider global audience, with the aim of strengthening solidarity among people and promoting world peace.
They expressed confidence that the National Games will be a splendid and successful event that will catalyze further advancements in the development of sports in China.
Wang Yi, Huang Kunming and Shen Yiqin attended the meeting.
