International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach speaks to media through Alibaba's cloud computing technology. Photo: Zhao Juecheng/GT

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Sunday that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will be the start of a new era for global winter sports, and China's extraordinary achievements in winter sports will change the landscape of winter sports around the world forever. 

Bach said that Beijing is the first city ever to host both the summer and winter editions of the Olympic Games. China has already made history by surpassing the goal of engaging 300 million Chinese people in winter sports. 

"Today, we can say: China is a winter sports country," Bach said. 

Bach made the remarks at an Alibaba cloud hologram event during which Bach, who is in the closed loop in Beijing, had a real-time interaction with Alibaba Group CEO Zhang Yong, who is in Shanghai, through Alibaba Group's cloud computing technology.

Before the pandemic, digitalization was already changing the Olympic Games in profound ways. Beijing 2022 will deepen this trend of engaging more people, more digitally than before, Bach said. 

"I am sharing the same stage with my dear friend Daniel Zhang, even though I am inside the closed loop and he is outside. This is a perfect example of how digital technology is transforming the way we experience the Olympic Games," Bach said. 

During the interaction between Bach and Zhang, the two together presented a Chinese Spring Festival couplet and Bath also presented Zhang with the Beijing 2022 torch through the cloud service. 

The technology relies on real-time communication and a global real-time transmission network, and it combines with the advanced 4K high-definition screen to achieve a remote holographic interactive experience. 

The cloud hologram event was held at the 2022 Beijing Media Center for the Beijing Winter Olympics, which provides information related to the Games for journalists without official Olympic accreditation.

Xu Hejian, director of the 2022 Beijing Media Center, said at the event that the cloud service enables the 1,770 journalists at the center to closely interact with Bach, which is not only the strength of technology and the Olympics but also the strength of China.