Round-the-clock team created to prevent all Olympic infringement

The National Copyright Administration announced the formation of a special unit that will work around the clock on investigating and tackling copyright infringement related to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Together with five other departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security, the administration issued a notice on Jan 27 announcing the launch of the campaign, which will run until next month.

Authorities will focus on tackling the unauthorized broadcast of events, punish piracy involving audiovisual, written, artistic and musical works, and use all available means to ensure the orderly transmission of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Both events were placed on copyright list issued on Jan 29, that requires that internet service providers adopt a series of key measures to protect Olympic and Paralympic copyright.

The anti-piracy unit has requested that internet platforms heighten protection, enhance their duty of care, and cooperate with authorities in investigations of infringement.

New sports belt to link Winter Olympic cities gets the green light

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Administration of Sport have authorized the construction of a Beijing-Zhangjiakou tourism belt devoted to sports.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Xi Jinping, called for the speeding up of the belt's construction at a meeting in January last year.

Beijing and Zhangjiakou in Hebei province, homes of the Winter Olympic venues, are at the heart of the plan, but the belt also encompasses areas along the high-speed railway and expressway connecting the two cities.

Covering an area of 24,800 square kilometers, including seven Beijing districts and 10 districts and counties in Zhangjiakou, the plan will be the guiding document for construction of the belt in the coming years.

Presenting the belt as being important in terms of fortifying the ecological barrier around the capital and in speeding up the green transformation of industries, that plan states that the project will also promote the post-Games use of Olympic venues, the aligned development of Beijing and Zhangjiakou, and help nurture new drivers for the regional economy.

It also lists the principles that should guide construction. Local authorities are tasked with allowing innovation to drive the project, protect the environment, develop the belt in an open manner, place people at the center and integrate the belt's construction with the existing strategy for the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

The aim is for the belt to become an example of the post-Olympic utilization of venues, a demonstration of the public service system for national fitness and a model of integrated development of sports and tourism.