Hong Kong Commercial Daily:

The Asian Winter Games, an intercontinental winter sports gathering, will attract a number of domestic and foreign journalists. What preparations have been made for its media operation? Thank you.

Zhang Haihua:

Thank you for your question. The media plays a vital role in promoting the Olympic spirit, China's sporting spirit as well as the Asian Winter Games. We will make great efforts to provide an excellent working environment, facilities and services for all registered media outlets to facilitate their work. We will mainly focus on the following three aspects.

First, a network of media centers will be carefully planned for journalists. We will set up a main media center and a Yabuli Mountain media center, respectively, in the ice and snow competition areas and will establish several functional zones including comprehensive service spots, dedicated media workspaces, a press conference hall, special (rental) spaces as well as a catering and tea break room. We will also establish additional media centers in the opening and closing ceremony venues, five competition arenas and two athletes' villages. By doing so, we aim to create an optimal environment for journalists to conduct their work.

Second, we have set up a special comprehensive information release platform. We developed an "Online News Center" system for the 9th Asian Winter Games, established a professional and efficient news and information service team to provide competition review, competition highlights and flash quotes in both Chinese and English for registered media. This ensures that registered media can obtain objective, comprehensive and accurate official news and information as soon as possible.

In addition, we will provide high-quality and convenient service guarantees. Overseas registered journalists, with their identity registration cards and their valid IDs used in the application, can enter and leave the Chinese mainland between 12 a.m. Beijing time on Jan. 1 and midnight on March 1, 2025, without needing to submit an additional visa application each time. Eight media hotels near the sports venues have been chosen to provide media shuttle bus services between the media hotels and the main media center, as well as between the main media center and the venues, with considerate arrangements for arrivals and departures, logistics, catering, charge cards, finance and other aspects.

We will do our best to provide high-quality, professional and friendly services for friends from the media in guaranteeing access to space, information and services. We sincerely welcome media friends from across the globe to follow and participate in the Asian Winter Games, help present the unique charm of winter sports, jointly carry forward the Olympic spirit and China's sporting spirit, and present the Asian Winter Games to the world in comprehensive, multi-dimensional and vivid ways.

Finally, I would like to once again wholeheartedly invite friends from the media to visit Harbin to enjoy its beautiful scenery, experience the charm of the "Ice City," and jointly tell Harbin's story.

Thank you.