Russian, Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals in 2026 Winter Olympics

The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Friday in Milan that athletes from Russia and Belarus will be permitted to participate in the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics as neutral individual athletes.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry reiterated during a press conference that the decision aligns with the approach taken for the 2024 Paris Olympics, maintaining the same conditions and requirements.

The IOC stated that neutral individual athletes who qualify through their respective International Federations' qualification processes will be eligible to compete, provided they meet the participation criteria established by the IOC.

According to the IOC's official website, 32 athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport participated in 10 sports during the Paris Olympics. The Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, set to begin on Feb 6 next year, will follow the same regulations applied in Paris.

Russian, Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals in 2026 Winter Olympics

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.

China's aggregate social financing maintains high growth in 2025