Beijing 2022 to send observer team to Tokyo Games: official

TOKYO - As Tokyo 2020 nears its start, Beijing will send 34 staff members to Tokyo to get first-hand experience by working at key posts in various venues, sources with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games (BOCOG) told Xinhua on Tuesday.

During every Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee invites future Games' organising committees to participate in an Observer Programme, which provides a behind-the-scenes access to the daily operations of hosting the Games.

Future organising committees like Beijing 2022, Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 will participate in the IOC Observer Programme during the Tokyo Games.

Those 34 members from Beijing will observe real Games operations through a number of visits to various Olympic sites, small seminars and learning from their Tokyo counterparts.

BOCOG has highly valued the Observer Programme and has sent as many as 654 representatives to participate over the past five years. At the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games, in particular, Beijing 2022 sent 41 members to the local organizing committee to work for 135 days and brought back China with rich experience.