The three Olympic Villages in Beijing, suburban Yanqing and adjacent Zhangjiakou officially open their doors to athletes from around the world for the Beijing Winter Olympics on Thursday. The Beijing village will predominantly house athletes competing in sports such as skating. Photo: VCG

China's strict but "well-thought-out" efforts to stop the spread of the COVID-19 at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games have received praises from foreign journalists, who said that the efforts have made them reassured.

With two days to go before the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the Olympic Village has opened to athletes, journalists and other relevant personnel from all over the world. A reporter from Japan told the Global Times that he was impressed by the strict anti-epidemic system for the Games, saying that the efforts are "well-thought-out" and made him reassured in the "real bubble" in Beijing.

The journalist, who entered the closed-loop on January 27, shared with the Global Times on Wednesday his experience and feelings about China's anti-epidemic work for the Games.  

"In Japan, I've started preparations from downloading 'My 2022' app, reporting my daily physical conditions, obtaining vaccination certificate, taking the PCR test, obtaining green code and applying for customs declaration, etc," said the journalist under the condition of anonymity.

"After entering China, I saw the Chinese staff in protective clothing on the runway of Beijing Capital International Airport," said the journalist, noting this scene made the atmosphere different. On the road, the passage through the Olympic lane was comfortable and convenient, he recalled.

"After entering the closed loop, I feel that it is a well-thought-out system," the journalist said. "While for the last few days, Japan has seen the largest number of daily infections on record, Beijing's system on epidemic control makes me feel reassured," he said. 

As a foreigner who first experienced the strict and complete anti-epidemic system in the closed loop, he was a bit nervous when seeing the green fence around his hotel. Compared with the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games when people in the bubble were able to go out into the city after a certain period of isolation, the journalist said that this time is "very different."

During the Games, Olympic personnel from overseas are not allowed to go outside the closed loop. In late February, the journalist will complete his reporting work and take a 10-day home quarantine after arriving in Japan.

Japan's Kyodo News on January 28 also revealed its reporters' experience in the "real bubble" in Beijing, saying that anti-epidemic efforts at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are incomparable to that of the Beijing Games.

In addition to Japanese journalists, people from other countries and regions have also expressed their sense of secure due to the Olympic closed-loop mechanism.

Thomas Weikert, the newly-elected president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency on January 29 as saying that he is in favor of the strict public health measures implemented for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

"If you look at the system of the closed loop and how it has been further improved after the experiences of the Tokyo Games, I am quite confident that once we have made it into the loop, we will have the opportunity to concentrate on the sport," the former president of the German table tennis association said.