Winter Olympics Photo:VCG

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the International Testing Agency (ITA) and other relevant government departments on Thursday to cooperate on anti-doping investigative information and intelligence.

The signing of the MoC fully demonstrates that the Chinese government and the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee has always had “zero tolerance” toward doping, said Zhang Jiandong, executive vice president of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee.

“We hope that all parties will take this MoC as a basis for strengthening cooperation and establishing an effective mechanism of information exchange and communication, so that we can jointly hold an Olympic Winter Games as pure and clean as ice and snow,” said Zhang. 

The other four Chinese government departments that signed the MoC are the General Administration of Sport, the Ministry of Public Security, the General Administration of Customs and the China Anti-Doping Agency. 

"This agreement underlines the commitment of the partners involved to fair Olympic Winter Games where doping has no place," said Dr Valérie Fourneyron, chair of the ITA Foundation Board.

She said she was pleased that the highest Chinese authorities have reached this agreement with the ITA and said it will ensure adequate communication channels and an efficient exchange of information if there is any suspicion of doping activity during Beijing 2022. 

An information sharing system related to anti-doping investigative information and intelligence will be established to combat anti-doping rule violations and doping-related crimes, as well as to protect the physical and mental health of athletes and ensure the smooth running of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, according to the MoC.