- China has failed to factor in additional costs such as transportation and sporting infrastructure, says report
- Country’s 2008 summer Games cost approximately US$42bn
- Beijing Olympic Committee says it will release official account of Olympics expenses six months after the Games
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics could cost China more than US$38.5 billion, ten times higher than the country’s estimate of US$3.9 billion, according to a Business Insider investigation.
China’s initial projection would make the event the least expensive Games in the last two decades. However, Bussies Insider reports that questions have arisen as to whether the nation has accurately reported how much it has spent.
According to the report, China has not taken into account additional costs such as transportation and sporting infrastructure, including constructing the Olympic village which cost about US$3.16 billion. Newly built venues such as the National Speed Skating Oval, estimated to have cost around US$186.6 million, have also reportedly not been included in the current list of costs.
In addition, China has repurposed several venues built for the 2008 summer Games, but it is unclear how much it spent to refurbish these.
Other expenses reportedly not factored in include the US$9.2 billion spent on a driverless bullet train to transport people between Zhangjiakou and Beijing, a US$773.5 million subway line built specifically for the Winter Games and US$514.1 million invested in the Yanqing district.
China has also purportedly not included the spend on safety measures for its Covid-19 bubble, as well as environmental and social costs.
Business Insider notes that many of China’s biggest outlays fall under the category of ‘capital improvements’, which the International Olympics Committee (IOC) classifies as separate from other types of Games expenses.
A representative for the Beijing Olympic Committee alsotold Business Insider that, while Covid-19 had increased costs, the country has saved money by ‘streamlining unnecessary events’, such as the shortened Olympic torch relay procession.
Even so, factoring in the various costs means the total price of Beijing 2022 would dwarf the estimated US$13.6 billion Japan spent on Tokyo 2020. The figure, though, would fall short of China’s summer Games in 2008, which cost approximately US$42 billion.
The Beijing Olympic Committee representative said to Business Insider that China would release an official account of Olympics expenses six months after the Games end.
The report adds to a troubled build up for Beijing 2022. The pandemic has meant the event will feature a closed-loop management system, meaning that all individuals involved in the Games will be isolated from the rest of the city’s population when they arrive in China.
The persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, coupled with China’s actions in Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as concerns for the welfare of tennis player Peng Shuai, have also caused international outrage and resulted in several diplomatic boycotts from countries.
