Beijing (AFP)
China has chosen a panda, the animal of the country's emblematic Ursidae family, as the mascot of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the organizing committee said Tuesday in the Chinese capital.
The mascot of the Olympics, named "Bing dwen dwen" ("little ice pillar") is a panda in an ice suit, making a sign of the hand.
The little black and white bear has a "heart of gold and a love for everything related to the Winter Games," tweeted the Chinese Organizing Committee to explain his choice.
Beijing will become in 2022 the first city in the world to have organized Olympic Summer Games (in 2008, ed.) And winter.
The Beijing Organizing Committee announced that it will invest 1.5 billion dollars (1.35 billion euros) in the construction of villages, sports facilities and other infrastructure.
The country will also develop a high-speed train line between Beijing and Zhangjiakou, a city in the northwest of the Chinese capital where some competitions will be organized.
The Organizing Committee also unveiled Tuesday the mascot of the Paralympic Games (March 4-13, 2022): an illuminated red lantern.
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