President Xi Jinping Meets With IOC's Bach In Beijing

President Xi Jinping met with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Tuesday, just over a week before the start of the Winter Games, in a rare in-person encounter with a foreign visitor during the pandemic.

The Games will take place from February 4 to 20 inside a "closed-loop" separating athletes and other participants from outsiders, and tickets will not be sold to the public. China has all but shut its borders to international arrivals to curtail Covid-19.

At Tuesday's meeting, Xi welcomed Bach to China, and Bach praised Xi for China's "efficiency, determination and vigour" in preparing for the Games, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

They talked about Covid-19 countermeasures at the Games and Bach told Xi that "China is now a winter sports country, and this is the start of a new era for global winter sports," according to a readout on the IOC website.

While athletes and other Games personnel must undergo Covid-19 screening before flying to China on special charter flights, organisers have begun reporting cases among early arrivals, including 15 new cases on Jan. 24, one of them an athlete or team official.

Bach arrived in Beijing on Saturday and entered a three-day isolation period.

"The two leaders discussed the strong support of the international community for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022," the IOC added. (Reuters)