China's preparations for the 2022 Winter Games were "likely" atop the agenda at Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach on Wednesday in Lausanne, according to Lu Wenao of the GLOBAL TIMES. Xi became "the first Chinese president" to visit the IOC HQ, one-and-a-half years after the IOC selected Beijing to host the 2022 Winter Games. China is "boosting its winter sports development, not only in its traditional northern area but also in several southern cities -- where snow is rare -- through indoor activities." The country "aims to have 300 million winter sports enthusiasts" by '22. Peking University's China Institute for Sports Value Exec Dir He Wenyi said that the "ultimate goal of popularizing winter sports goes beyond the 2022 Games." He said, "Popularizing winter sports in China is the foundation of a stronger performance at future Winter Olympics. It's not only for competitive sports but also for public health." China's Winter Games performance is a "far cry from its achievements in Summer Games," winning only 12 Golds in four out of 15 current Winter Olympic sports since '80. But winter sports in China "are gaining in popularity." According to data released to the Global Times, the number of winter season tourists "surged" from 1.01 million from the '12-13 season to 1.78 million in the '15-16 season (GLOBAL TIMES, 1/18).
