International Communication Implications of Beijing 2022

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics hosted by China is based on the Olympic Agenda 2020 adopted by the IOC in December 2014. The core content of the agenda includes reducing the bidding and operation costs of the Olympics， promoting sustainable development， enhancing credibility and delivering humanistic care. In November 2015， General Secretary Xi Jinping instructed that the Beijing Winter Olympics should be held in a “green， sharing， open and clean” manner. When covering the Beijing Winter Olympics for the international community， we should not only vigorously promote the Olympic spirit by integrating the Olympic Agenda 2020 with the “green， inclusive， open and clean” Olympic vision， but also introduce Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the world by incorporating the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind into the publicity efforts. Due to the difficulties and complexities brought by COVID-19 prevention and control， the Beijing Winter Olympics will only allow targeted audiences to watch the games on site， denying direct access to the Games from global citizens. Against this backdrop， it has become inevitable and necessary for China to leverage both its own and foreign media in China to present a reliable， admirable and respectable national image to the rest of the world and share with the international community a “wonderful， safe and simple Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics”， so as to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Beijing Winter Olympics is an opportunity to demonstrate China's international communication ability

As a global event， the Olympic Games upholds the spirit of “mutual understanding， friendship， solidarity and fair play”， transcends the boundaries of politics， religion， color， race and language， and has attracted 206 members to participate in the Games， forming an international community that is even bigger than the United Nations. Its appealing force and inclusiveness is self-evident. China will undoubtedly embrace great opportunities by hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics.

On the one hand， the Beijing Winter Olympics brings an important impetus for China to realize its dream of becoming a strong sports power. A country can only become stronger when its people are strong physically and high in spirit. The popularization of mass sports and the roll-out of national fitness programs may create a solid foundation for the development of national health and physical education. When bidding for the 24th Winter Olympics， China promised to get 300 million Chinese involved in winter sports. To this end， at the national level， the General Administration of Sport of China and other departments have issued important documents such as the Development Plan for Winter Sports （2016-2025）， The Plan for the Popularization of Mass Winter Sports （2016-2020）， and The National Construction Plan for Winter Sports Venues and Facilities （2016-2022）. In September 2018， the GASC issued the Implementation Outline of “Getting 300 Million Chinese Involved in Winter Sports” （2018-2022）. In August 2021， the State Council issued the Extensive Mass Fitness Program （2021-2025）. These plans and programs were all created to promote mass winter sports and high-level development of extensive mass fitness， help build a “healthy China” and bring China’s dream of becoming a strong sports power into reality. At the local level， a number of provinces and municipalities have also been developing winter sports vigorously. Beijing took the lead in introducing the “1+7” winter sports development master plan， which defined the seven core tasks in promoting winter sports -- encouraging mass participation， highlighting the competing nature， encouraging youth participation， industrialize winter sports， holding winter sports contests， building winter sports facilities and cultivating winter sports talents. By 2022， Beijing will have basically formed a relatively complete winter sports service system， and winter sports development will come to a new stage. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in February 2014 when he visited members of the Chinese sports delegation attending the 22nd Winter Olympics in Sochi， Russia， “The dreams of every Chinese and China’s dream of becoming a strong sports power are closely linked to the Chinese dream.” Hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics is not only conducive to enhancing China’s global influence and building its image as a big country， but also brings a good opportunity to promote national fitness in China.

On the other hand， the Beijing Winter Olympics is an important opportunity to test China’s international communication capacity. The Olympics emphasize the promotion of mutual understanding among people from different nations and the maintenance of world peace. Since 1924 when the first Winter Olympics was held， the number of participating countries and regions has been increasing and the influence of the Winter Olympics has been growing. The Beijing Winter Olympics will bring an important opportunity for China to tell its story， communicate its solutions and share its wisdom with the rest of the world. However， whether China is able to do these well， and thus win global recognition， also depends on the strength of China’s international communication capacity. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China， the top leaders of China have repeatedly emphasized and urged the enhancement of international communication capacity， and relevant instructions and requirements have been written into government work reports. On May 31st， 2021， the 30th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee was held under the theme of strengthening the building of China’s international communication capacity. General Secretary Xi Jinping urged Chinese officials and institutions to “work harder on international communication to enhance China’s influence， the appeal of Chinese culture， the affinity of China’s image， the persuasiveness of China’s discourse， and the steering power of China in international public opinion”. This has shown that international communication capacity has already become part of China’s national power and a supporting part of the country’s soft power， and that the communication and shaping of the national image has also become a national strategy of China.

Realistic goals of the international communication of Beijing Winter Olympics

The realistic goals of the international communication of the Beijing Winter Olympics are to present “a reliable， admirable and respectable national image of China” to the rest of the world. A good national image helps a country to win a favorable international environment for development and reduce its development cost. In contrast， a country without a good national image may be left helpless and frustrated in international exchanges， and be forced to increase input in political， military and diplomatic fields， which would greatly raise the cost of its development.