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IOC PRESIDENT CEMENTS STRONG RELATIONS DURING VISIT TO CHINAOn 28 August, IOC President Thomas Bach travelled to Tianjin for the opening of the China National Games. Before the spectacular ceremony, he had a meeting with the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping. During the meeting – which was their second of 2017, following President Xi’s historic visit to the IOC in January – the two leaders confirmed their shared commitment to a very close cooperation. Excellent progress has already been made on preparations for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and after visiting several of the venues, President Bach said that these Games would be “clean, green and sustainable”. With a number of innovations, as well as the global partnership with Alibaba, the IOC President said the Games had the potential to “set a global benchmark for future Olympic Games”. Two days earlier, he had spent a day at the headquarters of Worldwide TOP Partner Alibaba, where he was welcomed by Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma. After jointly unveiling a commemorative stone to mark the long-term partnership, the two leaders took questions at an hour-long meeting with young workers at the company. The Q&A at Alibaba’s headquarters was a live webcast, and to mark the visit Alibaba ran an Olympic promotion on their TMall platform, which attracted 300 million users.Throughout the trip, President Bach was accompanied by IOC Vice-President Zaiqing Yu, IOC Member Lingwei Li and IOC Honorary Member Timothy Fok.IOC awards broadcast rights in AfricaThe IOC has awarded exclusive 2018-2024 Olympic broadcast rights to DStv SuperSport, Econet Media and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The announcement was made on 10 July following the completion of a competitive tender in the region. In terms of territories, DStv SuperSport has acquired pay TV media rights in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa; Econet Media has acquired free-to-air and pay TV media rights in Sub-Saharan Africa; and SABC has acquired free-to-air rights in South Africa.IOC President attends World GamesIn July, IOC President Thomas Bach attended the World Games in Wrocław, Poland, where he was welcomed by International World Games Association (IWGA) President and IOC Member José Perurena.Speaking at the opening ceremony, President Bach called the event “a celebration of the diversity of sport and its values”. The World Games are a quadrennial international multi-sport event comprising disciplines that are not contested at the Olympic Games. The IOC signed an MoU with the IWGA in 2016.NEWS IN BRIEFBelow President Bach with Chinese President Xi Jinping OLYMPIC REVIEW 15