Govt lays out details of park at former steel plant

An abandoned industrial park in western Beijing will be turned into a venue for hosting sports and cultural events as part of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, a plan published on Wednesday said.

Shougang Industrial Park, covering an area of 22.3 square kilometers, is a former steel plant that was vacated by Stateowned Shougang Group when it moved to Caofeidian, Hebei province, in 2010.

The Beijing city government, in coordination with some of the city’s districts and bureaus, including the city’s development and reform commission, produced the three-year action plan that will turn the area into a world-class city rejuvenation landmark by 2021.

“We will adopt the principle of preserving the original appearance of the park and fully use the existing facilities,” said Hong Jiyuan, deputy director of the commission.

He said it’s important to reuse the industrial site, which will host the big-air snowboarding competition and related leisure activities in 2022.

Big-air snowboarding is a new Winter Olympics event that involves snowboarders hurling themselves off a snow ramp in aerial stunts including complex flips and spins before landing on a slope.