China's Xi Jinping Has Rare Meeting With IOC Head Before Winter Olympics
Chinese President Xi Jinping met in person with Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. It is possibly Xi’s first face time with a foreign dignitary since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic The last known meeting that Xi had with a foreign leader was in March 2020, when he and Pakistani President Arif Alvi discussed measures to fight the coronavirus in the Chinese capital, according to a report by the official Xinhua News Agency. Besides avoiding face-to-face meetings, Xi’s lack of foreign travel -- he hasn’t left the country in just over two years -- raises concern his absence from major events hinders global progress on everything from climate change to disputes with the U.S. The last time Xi returned from a trip abroad was on Jan. 18, 2020, after visiting neighboring Myanmar. That came five days before his government locked down the city of Wuhan, a move that alerted the world to the severity of the virus that causes Covid-19. In Tuesday’s meeting, which comes just a week before the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Xi and Bach talked about the Olympic Truce resolution adopted by United Nations member states, as well as Covid measures and the closed-loop management system being employed for the Winter Games, according to a statement from the IOC. Xi told Bach that China would fulfill its promise to present a simple, safe and splendid Winter Olympics, and China is “fully” confident it will protect the health and safety of its people and participants in the games, Chinese state TV reported. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: / bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: / bloombergquicktakenews Twitter: / quicktake Facebook: / quicktake Instagram: / quicktake
