The new head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today wished China's president good luck on the country's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, state media reported.
IOC President Thomas Bach made the comment while meeting President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Xinhua reported earlier this month that Beijing will bid to hold the 2022 Winter Games. It said ice sports would be held in Beijing, while snow events would take place in the city of Zhangjiakou, in the neighbouring province of Hebei.
Other candidate cities for the 2022 Winter Games are Germany's Munich, the Norwegian capital Oslo, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Poland's Krakow, Ukraine's Lviv and Sweden's Oestersund.
China has never hosted the Winter Olympics, but the 2008 Summer Games marked a key milestone in the country's emergence on the world stage.
Xi thanked Bach for the IOC's support, particularly for the 2008 Summer Olympics and the second Youth Olympic Games, set to take place next summer in the city of Nanjing, the report said.
After the meeting, Bach presented Xi with "the Olympic Order in Gold, the highest award of the Olympic movement, recognising Xi's contribution to the world sports and Olympics", Xinhua said.
