Children play ice hockey on the frozen lake in Yuyuantan Park in Beijing on Sunday, the last day of the New Year holidays. Winter sports are getting more popular in China, and the capital will hold the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Photo: cnsphoto

China's stringent approach to virus control was hailed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday, with IOC President Thomas Bach saying that he believes this has increased confidence in the safe organization of the Olympic Games.

"The IOC president welcomed this stringent approach because it will lead to a faster recovery from the pandemic, giving even more confidence in the safer organization of the Olympic Games," the IOC said in a statement after Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call with Bach on Monday. 

China's Foreign Ministry reiterated Tuesday that China has strictly implemented prevention and control measures to overcome the impact of the pandemic and create favorable conditions for the smooth hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

China is willing to join the IOC and other countries in ensuring the safe and unhindered hosting of the Tokyo Summer Olympics from July 24 to August 9 this year and the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. 

The Beijing Winter Olympics is scheduled to be held from February 4 to 20 in 2022, with the opening day falling on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year. 

The closing ceremony for the postponed Tokyo Olympics is just 179 days ahead of the opening day of the Beijing Olympics.

Construction of venues and infrastructure for the 2022 Winter Olympics is already underway. All are expected to be finished by the end of 2021, reports said.

The COVID-19 epidemic in China has forced many sports events to be postponed - the indefinitely postponed National Winter Games in 2020 is just one - or forced behind closed doors, such as the national championships for various disciplines of winter sports like cross-country skiing and short track speed skating.

China has set a goal to have 300 million Chinese become familiar with winter sports by 2022, when Beijing becomes the world's first city to have hosted both the Summer and the Winter Olympics.