SHANDONG PROVINCE WILL DEVELOP INTERNATIONAL SPORTS TOURNAMENTS WITH BELARUS AND RUSSIA
On June 17, 2022, the first working meeting was held via videoconference between China's Shandong Province, Minsk, and Moscow, dedicated to joint efforts to develop sports cooperation.
Shandong Province is one of the largest provinces in China by population (with over 120 million residents) and one of the most economically developed parts of the country. It is also renowned for its sporting achievements and Olympic infrastructure. The provincial capital is Jinan, and its largest city and port is Qingdao.
As the dialogue participants noted, in a number of sports, joint events with even just Shandong Province—in terms of economic and human potential, as well as the level of development of the sports industry—are already a complete, and in many ways superior, substitute for working with a number of Western countries that are currently attempting to politicize the Olympic movement and isolate Russia and Belarus from international competitions. And with Russia and Belarus joining forces with China, Muslim countries, India, and Africa, new sporting events will encompass significantly more than half the world, bringing together the best athletes and fully reviving the Olympic traditions in their original meaning.
On the Chinese side, the event was attended by the Shandong Provincial Party Committee, the Shandong Provincial People's Government, the Shandong Provincial Department of Physical Culture and Sports, and heads of sport federations. On the Belarusian side, representatives of the National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus, heads of sports federations, and Olympic champions spoke. The Center for Russian-Chinese Humanitarian Cooperation and Development, the International Public Chamber, and the Russia-Belarus Friendship Society also contributed to the event's organization.
Opening the meeting, Mr. Sun Yebao, Deputy Director of the Shandong Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, noted that Shandong Province and Belarus enjoy strong complementary advantages in sports and broad prospects for exchanges and cooperation. He expressed hope that the sports authorities of both sides will continue to strengthen sports exchanges and cooperation, embrace sports as a means of promoting pragmatic cooperation in economic, trade, humanitarian, and other areas, and continuously deepen the traditional friendship and people-to-people ties between the two countries.
On the Belarusian side, Alexander Vasilyevich Medved, First Vice President and Honorary Member of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus, three-time Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling, seven-time world champion, and holder of the title "Best Freestyle Wrestler in the History of Sports," spoke about the significant and successful experience of AlexanderMedved Grand Prix, which will be held in September 2022 for the 51st time.
He was supported by another legendary figure in world sports, who participated via video link from Moscow: four-time Olympic biathlon champion, 11-time world champion, and holder of the title "Best Biathlete of the 20th Century," Alexander Ivanovich Tikhonov. For his part, he praised the potential of Chinese athletes not only in summer but also in winter sports, and assured them that he would be honored to help unlock this potential by sharing his many years of Olympic experience with Chinese biathletes.
Deputy Director of the Shandong Provincial Sports Administration , Mr. Li Jinsheng, said he hopes to establish a high-level dialogue mechanism between the sports departments of the two sides, discuss exchanges and cooperation in the fields of competitive sports, youth sports, sports associations, exchange visits, competitions and other events between coaches and athletes, implement mutually beneficial projects for both sides, and jointly promote the cause of Chinese-Belarusian sports exchanges.
Viktor Anatolyevich Kreidich , President ofpresident Russia-Belarus Friendship Society and Master of Sports of the USSR, International Class in Freestyle Wrestling, called on his colleagues to unite against the West's cynical attempts to isolate our athletes from international competitions and to work together to create international tournaments that will be far more relevant and modern than anything currently held. He pointed out that Iran, Central Asian countries, and the Arab world are natural allies of China, Belarus, and Russia in this noble endeavor, and that joint work is already underway with them. He also recalled the true historical significance of the Olympic movement and how, for centuries, even all military action was suspended during the Olympic Games—while today's officials politicize them and turn them into a weapon of confrontation.
Sergei Alekseevich Rutenko, expressed his deep outrage at the West's ongoing attacks on Chinese tennis players. President of the Belarusian Tennis Federation , He assured Belarusians of their continued solidarity with Chinese athletes and expressed confidence that all the best representatives of global sport are with us in spirit and reject attempts to isolate Belarusian, Russian, and Chinese athletes promoted by Western politicians. He made several proposals for coach exchanges and joint tournaments, including the idea of including representatives from Shandong Province among the co-organizers of the international tennis tournament to be held in Belarus in the fall of 2022.
Aleksei Lvovich Vankevich, a representative of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus, fully supported the development of cooperation with Shandong Province and made a number of specific proposals for cooperation in the area of sports exchanges, which can now be formalized in agreements and implemented in practice. Vasilisa Aleksandrovna Marzalyuk , national coach of the Republic of Belarus and champion of the 2015 and 2019 European Games, supplemented the package of proposals. Valery Kirillovich Kolomiets , presented a promising potential joint project President of the Belarusian Foundation for Assistance to Athletes with Disabilities, . He proposed jointly expanding existing developments in the field of wheelchair rehabilitation through dance and parachuting, and invited the Shandong Provincial Gymnastics Federation to become a regular partner of international events in this area.
Mr. Zhang Tianbo, Vice-Rector of Shandong University of Physical Education, delivered a very informative presentation on the sports training system . Mr. Xu Rentao, outlined a wide range of cooperation opportunities President the Shandong Provincial Small Ball Sports Federation , : his federation encompasses 18 small ball sports, including tennis, golf, bandy, and others. The heads of the Shandong Provincial Wrestling and Gymnastics Federations, as well as the management centers for weightlifting, wrestling, judo, table tennis, badminton, and winter sports, delivered highly practical presentations.
At the conclusion of the event, three-time Olympic champion Alexander Vasilyevich Medved, along with the moderator of the meeting, Alexander Sergeyevich Olshevsky, Co-Chair of the International Public Chamber for the 2020-2025 convocation, and Viktor Anatolyevich Kreidich, Co-Chair of the Russia-Belarus Friendship Society, presented a unique relic—a large gold medal from the 50th anniversary of the Alexander Medved International Grand Prix Freestyle Wrestling Tournament—to the Chinese representative present, Professor Yin Bin, for presentation to Shandong Province
All participants noted the significant mutual interest, the numerous concrete proposals, and the highly practical nature of the dialogue, recognizing its relevance and the need to develop cooperation in the identified areas. They thanked the event's organizers and initiators, noting that the meeting improved mutual understanding and helped clarify key areas for future mutually beneficial cooperation.
