Reuters reports sports minister Liu Peng saying Monday that China’s sports ministry will back a bid from any enthusiastic city to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
Harbin, host of the Winter University Games, submitted a bid proposal to China’s State Council last month, while Changchun in Jilin province, venue for the 2007 Asian Winter Games, is also reportedly interested in bidding.
China must inform the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of the name of any bid city by October 15, reports Reuters.
Liu told a press conference Monday, “Harbin and Jilin both have had experience in hosting international winter competitions. Whether to bid for Winter Olympics firstly depends on the enthusiasm of the potential host cities. If they are really enthusiastic to bid we will certainly support them”.
Liu said last month that a Chinese bid for the 2018 Games would be “difficult”.
Heilongjiang Province reportedly spent 3.1 billion yuan ($453.7 million) on building Olympic standard facilities for this year’s Winter University Games in Harbin, including the venue for China’s first accredited Alpine skiing downhill race.
Monday the Heilongjiang Daily quoted Govern Li Zhanshu as saying Harbin would not give up if they failed to win as they did in their bid for the 2010 Winter Games. He told the newspaper, “if we fail again in the bid for the 2018 Winter Games, then we are determined to win the 2022 Games. To host the first ever Winter Games in China is our dream”.
