China will launch a bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics, with a joint bid from Chengdu and Chongqing reported by state media on Friday. The Sichuan capital and its neighbouring megacity launched their joint hosting bid on the official website of the Sichuan provincial government, Xinhua reported. “As part of a national strategy to develop the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the two cities will bid for the Olympics together to try to host a Games with strong urban and cultural characteristics of the two cities, and to enhance the international influence and competitiveness of the two cities,” a document on the site read. Shanghai had been mentioned as a potential host city for the 2032 Games but its sports bureau said that it was only conducting a feasibility study following reports of a potential bid back in 2018. Other hosts that have been mooted for 2032 include Indonesia, Australia, Qatar and Germany although a potential Queensland bid has been put on ice amid the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. Chengdu’s aims of becoming a globally renowned sports city go beyond the Olympics. It has successfully bid to host the 2021 Summer Universiade, the 2022 World Table Tennis Team Championship, the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and the 2025 World Games. Uygur group calls for China to lose Winter Games over ‘genocide’ “Sichuan and Chongqing have successfully held a number of international and domestic sports events respectively in the past years, and they have already met the basic conditions for co-bidding for the Olympics. There is no need to invest a large amount of money to hold the Olympics while the Games will bring huge benefits,” Sichuan sports bureau spokesman Zhao Jun told domestic media. There has been no comment from either the Chengdu Municipal Government or the Chinese Olympic Committee. Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Games, will host the next Winter Games in 2022 – becoming the first city to host both. Human rights groups call for Beijing Winter Olympics to be moved However, there have already been calls for the Chinese capital to be stripped of the games or for athletes to boycott them over human rights abuse. In the meantime, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been postponed until next year because of Covid-19.
