Chinese manufacturing company Shougang Group has agreed a deal to sponsor the 2022 winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Shougang Group has been named as the official urban regeneration services partner of the Games.
Beijing 2022 has been headquartered in the Shougang compound since May 2016, with office buildings retrofitted from industrial facilities. The Games’ snowboard big air venue will also be built in the compound, along with training centres for short track speed skating, ice hockey and curling, as well as a museum and recreational spaces.
Zhang Jiandong, Deputy Mayor of Beijing and executive vice-president of Beijing 2022, said: “Beijing 2022 will actively promote Shougang Group and make sure that the company fully enjoys the wide range of benefits that come with the Olympic brand, so that it achieves more growth and becomes a new landmark of urban regeneration in Beijing.”
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach was present at the signing ceremony for the partnership and praised Beijing 2022 for its sustainability efforts.
“There are two impressive highlights from Beijing,” Bach said, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. “One is sustainability. You need to look around here at the Shougang Center, the positive effect that awarding the Olympic Games had for this area.”
Bach added: “Chinese friends are not only talking the talk, but also walking the walk. They take sustainability really as a core issue for the organisation of the Games. The other is feasibility. The Organising Committee is working with high efficiency, while making all the potential savings the Olympic Agenda 2020 is offering and keeping the Olympic spirit alive and respecting the athlete experience. We are very confident that Beijing will set a new benchmark benefiting for the first time from all the potential of the Olympic Agenda 2020 with regard to a great organisation, offering the best opportunity for the athletes and in particular sustainability and feasibility.”
Shougang Group becomes the sixth official partner of Beijing 2022, joining Bank of China, Air China, Yili Group, Anta and China Unicom.