Vinod Kumar Tiwari, Deputy Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) speaks during the first Chefs de Mission Meeting for Harbin Asian Winter Games on January 31, 2025. (Photo courtesy of OCA)

HARBIN, Feb. 3 (Xinhua)—Vinod Kumar Tiwari, Deputy Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), participated in the Torch Relay of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin on Monday and praised China's preparation efforts ahead of the event.

"We are very happy and very pleased. Because the Organising Committee had only one year to prepare for the games and they've done a marvelous job," said Tiwari.

"For me, this is one of the finest ones that we have seen in the Asian Winter Games," he added.

In Harbin, many infrastructures and venues, especially the Yabuli Ski Resort, impressed the OCA officials a lot.

"The infrastructure and the facilities are up to the Olympic standards. The organisers are providing the best environment for the athletes to participate," said the OCA official.

The opening day of the Asian Winter Games is the tenth day of the 2025 Chinese New Year.

Upon hearing that there are 20 million visitors in the capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province every day during the vacation, Tiwari told Xinhua that the world would see Harbin in a new value and new shape through not only the Asian Winter Games but also the ongoing ice and snow festival.

"Actually, we have some of the events starting today, especially the Ice Hockey. We'd like to request the citizens to come forward and support their teams, not only Team China but also other teams as well," Tiwari said.

"Harbin also has the capability of hosting the Olympic Winter Games if they decide to do it," he added.