High-quality preparations in full swing for Hangzhou Asian Games in 2022

The 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2020 will be held from Sept 10-25, 2022 in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. China Daily is teaming up with the organising committee of the Games to focus on the preparation and facts around the Hangzhou Asian Games.

When the curtains on the 18th Asian Games fell in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September 2018, the quadrennial continental event was officially announced to have entered "Hangzhou time".

It marked the start of an intensive preparatory phase for the Games in Hangzhou, dubbed "paradise on Earth". Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, will become the third city in China to host Asia's prime sports gala, after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, in 2010.

The 19th Asian Games will be held from Sept 10-25, 2022 and preparations for the Games in the city are in full swing. Upholding the concept of organising the event in a green, smart, economical and ethical way, Hangzhou is pushing forward with high-quality preparations for venue construction, visual products, marketing programs, agenda, opening and closing ceremonies.

Venue construction

According to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee, construction on 42 of the 58 venues and auxiliary facilities for the Games, which represent more than 85 percent of the total construction work, will be completed by the end of 2020.

Since February, projects for the Games resumed construction after the coronavirus was largely controlled in China.

On May 18, construction of the key structures for the main stadium and the indoor swimming pool in the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center, which will be used for the Games as the main venue, passed inspection.

Now, the focus of the main venue construction will be turned to the interior, including decoration and equipment.

In addition, co-hosting cities in Zhejiang, including Wenzhou, Ningbo and Huzhou, are to support the Games with accelerated construction on sports venues.

In the coastal county of Xiangshan, Ningbo, the construction of the Asian Games Sailing Center has seen new progress with the roof-sealing of the land venue completed, and a breakwater to protect the shore from waves being built.

According to the plan made by organizers of the Games, all 45 competition venues are expected to be built by March 2021.

The Games has three villages. The athletes village is expected to serve 10,400 athletes and team officials. The media village is to hold 5,000 registered media workers and the technical officials village is designed to receive 3,800 technical officials. The villages will be completed by the end of 2021.

Emblem, slogan, mascots

The emblem for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which is called Tides Surging, was officially launched in August 2018 and was the first visual element of the event to be unveiled.

Consisting of six elements: a Chinese fan, the Qiantang River, a tidal bore, a running track, the internet icon and the glowing red sun of the Olympic Council of Asia, the emblem embodies the characters of the current times and the Olympic spirit.

In a congratulatory response to the launch of the emblem, OCA President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah described it as dynamic and said it highlighted all the unique aspects of the city of Hangzhou.

The official slogan of the Games is "heart to heart, @future", which was announced in December 2019. It reflects that in the digital era, people from all over the Asian continent are connected with each other.

Mascots for the event, Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen, were unveiled in early April with the cultural and technical prowess of Hangzhou embodied in the designs.

Chen Weiqiang, deputy secretary-general of the Games' organising committee and vice-mayor of Hangzhou, said they hope the three mascots will serve as the envoys of the Olympic spirit, extending a warm welcome to people from Asia and the world. At the same time, visual products for the 2022 Asian Para Games were released to the public, mirroring the core message and aesthetic of those for the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Marketing program

The organizers of the Games launched an official marketing program in December 2018, calling for partners from around the world.

As of today, the event has established partnerships with eight enterprises, including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, auto manufacturer Geely Group and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

On March 10, the organising committee began invitations to sponsors and suppliers.

They are expected to come from the fields of internet safety, internet of things technology, photography, videography, nonalcoholic beverages, travel services, Western-style fast food and household kitchen appliances. They will also be entitled to certain rights, as well as priority in negotiations. The organising committee has confirmed the participation of 33 franchised manufacturers in areas such as noble metal, silk, stationery and clothing, and 16 offline stores and one online franchised retailer store, as well as a shopping platform on television.

A television media information platform, named Asian Games Channel, was jointly founded by the organising committee and Hangzhou Culture Radio Television Group in May.

It has the aim of recording the city's preparations for the Asian Games and promoting the brand of the event, as well as the image of the host city.

Schedule

The draft of the agenda, an indispensable part of the event organization, has been compiled and will be submitted to the OCA for confirmation in the second half of 2020. The making of plans for competitions, victory ceremonies and other activities is also underway. Preparations for the opening and closing ceremonies, an opportunity to display the host city's charm and interconnection of Asian countries, will move forward in 2020 with teams of directors confirmed. On Sept 10, 2019, the organising committee initiated a campaign to solicit ideas and proposals for the closing and opening ceremonies for the 19th Asian Games. By the end of January, it had received a total of 104 creative proposals.

Chen Weiqiang, deputy secretary-general of the HAGOC and vice-mayor of Hangzhou, attends a ceremony to mark the launch of the specially-designed stamps for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 on May 18, 2019. Chen sends stamps to people around the world as invitations to the Hangzhou Asian Game in 2022. CHINA DAILY