Winter sports will be transformed by China's pledge to inspire 300 million people to take up activities such as skiing, skating and ice-hockey through the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach told China Media Group (CMG).

"There will be a winter sport before the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and there will be a winter sport after the Olympic Winter Games 2022 in Beijing because you will have many, many more people being engaged with the winter sport and practicing winter sport and following winter sport," Bach said in an interview from Greece, where he witnessed the beginning of the torch relay.

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Beijing will become the first city ever to have hosted the Summer and Winter Games, also setting a precedent with the first carbon-neutral Olympics.

Bach said China had set an example for the world with the way it dealt with COVID-19, both in terms of making preparations for the events and ensuring participants' safety.

"We are deeply impressed by the way China was handling the coronavirus pandemic and in the determination not only to contain the virus but to eradicate the virus," he said.

According to Johns Hopkins University, China is registering 0.01 daily cases per 100,000 people, compared with 639 cases in the UK and 255 in the U.S..

Bach said Beijing 2022 would send a number of positive signals to the world by:

• Increasing the number of people participating in sport

• Showing the pandemic can be overcome

• Boosting the profile of winter sports

• Demonstrating the importance of sustainability

CMG's coverage

Bach also expressed his excitement about the launch of a 24/7 ultra high definition television channel being launched by CMG to cover the Olympics.

"This will put the Olympic engagement of CMG and of the Chinese people to a very high, a new level," he said.