As the third National Winter Sports festival was kicked off with a launching ceremony that was held on Friday. 

China's Vice Premier Liu Yandong, the Communist Party Secretary of Beijing, and the Beijing Winter Olympics Committee President Guo Jinlong attended the ceremony at the Capital Indoor Stadium.

The third National Winter Sports festival was kicked off with a launching ceremony that was held on Friday.

The festival aims to implement President Xi Jinping's instructions of leading three hundred million people to participate in winter sports, promote the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, fulfill fitness strategies for all, and promote measures towards building a healthy China, all while fulfilling the commitments of the country's bid, and preparations for, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The festival will include 25 provinces and such sports as skating, skiing, ice hockey, curling and more. World Curling Federation President Kate Caithness represented 7 world winter sports federations and offered a congratulatory speech. Winter sports representatives, including Olympians Shen Xue, Zhao Hongbo, Ye Qiaobo, along with 7,000 representatives of teachers and students, participated in the ceremony.