China Says Olympic Games Will Proceed as Planned despite Omicron Challenge

People stand next to a statue featuring the Olympic Rings outside the headquarters of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Shougang Park, the site of a a former steel mill, in Beijing, China, November 30, 2021. (Reuters)

China expects to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics "smoothly" and on schedule, despite challenges posed by the emergence of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular daily briefing on Tuesday.

"I believe it will definitely pose some challenge to our efforts to prevent and control the virus, but as China has experience in preventing and controlling the coronavirus, I fully believe that China will be able to host the Winter Olympics as scheduled, smoothly and successfully," Zhao said.

Beijing is set to stage the Games from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20, without foreign spectators and with all athletes and related personnel contained in a "closed-loop" and subject to daily testing for COVID-19.

Under its "zero-COVID" policy, China has had what are among the world's strictest COVID-19 prevention measures.