Children soccer players in the middle of a match at the National Olympic Sports Center in Beijing Photo: Courtesy of The Embassy of Argentina in China

The Embassy of Argentina in China and the Beijing Service Bureau for Diplomatic Missions (BDS) jointly organized the "Future Gateways Friendship Cup 2024" soccer carnival, a tournament among children's teams in Beijing on November 16 and 17. 

Marcelo Suarez Salvia, Ambassador of Argentina to China, gave opening remarks. 

He quoted an Argentine proverb, "Play with your heart and spirit, regardless of the result," to encourage Chinese and foreign children and teenagers to enhance friendship and understand the true meaning of fairness and respect through competition.

The matches took place at the National Olympic Center of China. A total of 50 children from various embassies in China played alongside 50 Chinese students from various schools at the event. The tournament served as a platform for friendly and cultural exchanges between children from different countries.

To help the development of diplomatic and foreign affairs services and jointly enhance international friendship, BDS has actively organized various public diplomatic cultural activities.

After the games, diplomats and their children visited sports facilities such as the National Olympic Sports Center and the Beijing Olympic Museum. The young soccer players took advantage of the opportunity to immerse themselves in the beauty of the integration of technology and the Olympics further perceiving the Chinese Olympic spirit, experiencing the Olympic legacy in the only dual Olympic city in the world.