A speed skating test event for the Asian Winter Games 2025, also the 4th leg of the China Cup Speed Skating Elite League, kicked off on Thursday in Harbin of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, attracting 598 athletes from across the country.
The four-day event took place at the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center. It's among the final preparations for the upcoming 9th Asian Winter Games, schedule for February 7 to 14, 2025, in Harbin.
The opening day saw exciting competitions in Men's 500m, Women's 500m and Women's 3,000m categories. All technical officials overseeing the event are referees to serve the Asian Winter Games.
The event is an opportunity for the Asian Winter Games Executive Committee to improve service standards, optimize venue service details and better enhance their ability to deal with emergencies.
"Through in-depth tests across 31 areas, we will examine the hardware of the venues and landscape designs, while conducting all-round tests on soft operations like volunteer services, media coverage and audience experience," said Ma Jiao, deputy-director and secretary-general of the venue operation team of the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center.
The Asian Winter Games 2025 will feature six sports, 11 disciplines and 64 events. Altogether 14 test events will be held from the end of September to January 2025 in Harbin as a thorough check on the preparation work and a comprehensive warm-up for the Asian Winter Games.
So far, test games of ice hockey, short track speed skating, and figure skating have already concluded. Following the speed skating match will be curling and eight snow test events.
Harbin, renowned for hosting China's first Asian Winter Games in 1996 and the Winter Universiade in 2009, has earned a reputation as the cradle of China's ice and snow sports.
Speed skating test event for Asian Winter Games opens
South China's Guangdong Province is accelerating its transformation into an international medical tourism hub, positioning itself as a destination for patients worldwide seeking affordable, high-quality care.
The push follows a joint initiative announced in late March by nine Chinese government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, aimed at boosting spending by foreign tourists and enhancing exports of tourism services as part of broader efforts to expand the country's service sector.
Every day, some of the most complex surgeries are performed here. Li Zilun, deputy director of the division of vascular surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑sen University, is among the doctors capable of carrying out these intricate procedures.
He recently completed surgery on a patient with an aortic aneurysm, a condition often described as a "time bomb" in the body’s main artery, increasingly common in aging societies around the globe. Li also specializes in highly difficult and pioneering procedures, including repairing leaks caused by failed grafts.
"This was a very challenging case. And then, we implanted the covered stent to eliminate the endoleak. Actually, the outcome was pretty good. The patient will be discharged today," said Li Zilun.
The ability to handle such complex cases -- combining international techniques with domestically produced devices -- is drawing patients from around the world to seek treatment. In addition, high safety standards and low costs are also major draws.
"Our government is encouraging innovation. So, lots of physicians -- including our vascular surgeons -- we are actively involved in the innovation that helps to increase the effectiveness and safety, and also bring down the cost," said Li.
This hospital is one of the first in Guangdong to be designated by the provincial health commission as a pilot site for building an international medical service hub.
The growing number of patients has pushed the hospital to explore new ways to transform every step -- from treatment to payment and everything in between -- into a seamless experience, reducing waiting times and delivering better care for patients.
"I think it's fast. When the patient come here for just about, I think, one week, you can solve the problem," said Xiao Haipeng, president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
The hospital is also deepening its international cooperation with top-tier medical institutions, including those at Harvard University.
"Not just for China, for the whole globe, we are facing health care challenges -- emerging infectious disease and chronic, lung infectious diseases, and also the aging population, also the shortage of healthcare workforce," said Xiao.
In response to these challenges, China is promoting its own solutions, including aggressive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workflows, while stepping up research and development investment and global engagement along the way.
"In recent years, the innovation in Western medicine is dramatically growing. An example of my hospital -- in the past few years, we have 140 innovations and seven of them are international leading innovations," said Xiao.
As global demand for medical tourism grows, China is positioning itself as a new destination. Official data shows that the number of foreign patients in Guangdong increased by 20 percent last year. Among them, the growth in inpatient admissions was even faster, rising by 76 percent.
Guangdong fast-tracks pilot for int'l medical service hub
