Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach announced at the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday.
Beijing, which also hosted the Summer Games in 2008, was chosen over Kazakhstan's Almaty.
China beat Kazakhstan's bid by 44 votes to 40.
The IOC informed in a statement that the reason for choosing Beijing over Almaty is owing to the fact that the capital of China "aims to use the Games to accelerate the development of a new sport, culture and tourism area, and encourage interest in winter sports in a region that is home to more than 300 million people in northern China."
Beijing also becomes the first city in the world to host both summer and winter Olympics.
the Chinese bid beat Almaty by 44 votes to 40 with one abstention.
The statement from the IOC also stated that Beijing's Olympic plans adheres to the Olympic Agenda 2020 which emphasises a strong focus on "sustainability, legacy, and transparency".
It also stated that the Chinese city will make the most of use of the already-existing venues for the game, which includes the famous Bird's Nest Stadium – built during the 2008 Games.
The result of the elections arrived today after a closed-door voting process by the IOC members. It must also be noted that Oslo, Munich, and Stockholm were also in the running for the same, but the cities had decided to forfeit their plans of hosting the mega event owing to public pressure.
And that made the way for only Beijing and Almaty to stay as the final contenders.
And the news has made the entire Beijing 2022 delegation delighted.
Xu Jicheng, deputy director of Beijing 2022's press and communications department, was quoted by the CNN that "technically the pollution [in China] has been reduced and controlled, [and] we have seven more years to go and it will be sunshine and white clouds."
