Cooperation with China will open doors, says Finnish Olympics official

Finland, a winter sports leader, should explore cooperation with China, host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, a senior Finnish Olympics official said.

"The 2022 Winter Olympic Games will bring new development, not only for Chinese sports, but also for the international sports family," said Timo Ritakallio, who was named president of the Finnish Olympic Committee in November.

Ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to Finland, Ritakallio predicted it will bring the two countries closer and enhance cooperation in sports.

Ritakallio pointed out that Finnish President Sauli Niinisto was formerly president of the Finnish Football Federation and a man who knows about sports, at both the national and international level.

"I understand that China is putting increasing focus on developing winter sports," Ritakallio said. "China and Finland have had good relations for a long time, so it's an opportunity that the Finnish government should take."

Ritakallio said Finland is strong in winter sports, such as cross-country skiing, snowboarding and ice hockey.

"In this area, we have the world's top coaches, and I think China is developing these sports and teams. It would be good to have connections with the world winter sports organizations that would offer help to China," he said.

As part of the ongoing sports cooperation, a China-Finland winter sports seminar was held in Beijing on Jan 11, with hundreds of people attending, including government officials and businesspeople.

The forum was held during a visit by Jari Gustafsson, Finland's vice-minister of economic affairs and employment.

A group of Finnish enterprises presented their winter sports products and services at the forum and explored business opportunities with Chinese partners.

In addition to exporting coaches and experience, Ritakallio said Finland also can work with China by sharing its skills in producing artificial snow and ice in an environmentally friendly way.

"Due to climate change and global warming, even in Finland we must rely on artificial interventions on some occasions to have enough snow and ice to meet the minimum standards for such sports," Ritakallio said.

The Finnish company Snow Secure already is cooperating with the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee for the Winter Games.

Ice hockey is popular in Finland and, even in small cities, ice for the ice hockey rinks is made artificially. In some places, artificial snow is created for cross-country skiing.

"Apart from the Olympics, we can also cooperate to promote sports (among nonprofessionals), as China has already planned to do so," said Ritakallio, adding that Finnish business and sports sectors are eager to cooperate with China.

Ritakallio's part-time role as president of the Finnish Olympic Committee will end after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"I visit China regularly because it feels that China is the future and it has the best business opportunities," he said.

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