International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Tuesday lauded China Media Group (CMG) for its outstanding coverage and technological advancements during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paris 2024 Olympics, expressing expectations to deepen practical cooperation between the IOC and CMG.
Speaking at the 2024 IOC Digital Business and Market Development Commission meeting, Bach emphasized the quality of CMG's reporting, particularly its production of the international signal for table tennis, badminton, sport climbing, and gymnastics in Paris, which generated nearly 77 billion impressions.
"We are highly appreciative of the great work and commitment of CMG. The commitment CMG was showing in Beijing (2022 Beijing Winter Olympics) and in Paris (2024 Paris Olympics) is outstanding, with regard to the quantity and quality of the coverage. And then the coverage of the four sports which were allocated to you by OBS were a huge success and also showed the technological advancement of CMG in many respects. So you can be very very proud. And even in China where all the numbers are bigger than the rest of the world, seventy seven billion impressions, even for China, is a considerable number at least. So congratulations!" said Bach.
IOC Director of Digital Engagement and Marketing, Leandro Larrosa also expressed gratitude for CMG's longstanding support of the Olympic movement, noting that the inaugural Esports Olympics will be held in Saudi Arabia next year.
Larrosa emphasized the need to draw upon CMG's rich experience in digitalization, esports, and artificial intelligence for the successful presentation of related events, looking forward to continued close collaboration between both teams.
The IOC meeting revolved around discussions on the progress of the IOC's digitalization strategy, esports, artificial intelligence, and trends in digital business development.
In July of this year, CMG and the IOC signed a memorandum of cooperation on esports, aiming to further strengthen their deep collaboration in the esports field.
IOC president Bach lauds CMG's media-tech prowess, eyes deeper collaboration
To meet the timeline of starting independent customs operations by the end of 2025, the government of south China's Hainan province issued a series of regulations to stipulate import and export management of Free Trade Port (FTP), with two major documents on environmental safety and medicine import put into effect recently.
To further explain the effects and scope of the two documents, the local government held press conferences on Monday and Tuesday.
The "Several Provisions on the Management of Entry Environmental Safety Access in the Hainan Free Trade Port" took effect on Wednesday, which clarified the scopes and responsibilities regarding potential environmental issues of vessels and import products.
"The document regulates the access management of special items such as hazardous waste, remanufactured products, carry-on items of entry personnel, and radioactive materials. Meanwhile, it clarifies that the storage sites for transit goods should meet environmental safety management requirements, to avoid environmental pollution," said Di Weijie, deputy director of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Hainan Province.
In addition, the administrative rule on zero-tariff import of medicines and medical devices in Hainan Free Trade Port was put into effect on Tuesday, stipulating that before Hainan FTP starts independent customs operations, medical institutions, higher medical education institutions, and pharmaceutical research institutes registered in the Hainan's Boao Lecheng Pilot Zone with independent legal status and approved eligibility can import designated pharmaceuticals and medical devices under the zero-tariff policy.
"The scope [of medicines and medical devices imported under 'zero-tariff' policy] consists of two categories: imported pharmaceuticals and medical devices already approved for registration in China, and specially licensed pharmaceuticals and medical devices for the Boao Lecheng Pilot Zone," said Jia Ning, director of Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone Administration, during the press conference.
With policy supports and related efforts like the Ever Lasting International Innovation Medicine Exhibition held in the Boao Lecheng Pilot Zone, medicine and health care is expected to be a new pillar industry for Hainan.
New regulations clarify environment, medicine import issues in Hainan Free Trade Port
