2017-07-17
Bank of China became the first top official partner of the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games when it signed a deal with the Beijing Organizing Committee on Thursday.
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is a milestone event in China. It will have farreaching influence in showcasing China's image, help to promote the country's development and uplift the nation, said Chen Jining, Beijing's acting mayor and executive president of the organizing committee.
Commercial partnerships will contribute to the event's success and help the partner companies to accelerate their brand building and sharpen their competitive edge, Chen said.
"After being appointed the official partner in the banking sector, BOC will work hard to promote the Olympic spirit and the vision of Beijing 2022," said BOC Chairman Tian Guoli at the signing ceremony.
"In cooperation with the Beijing Organizing Committee, we will offer a wide range of high-quality, reliable and customized financial services to encourage people's enthusiasm for participation in winter sports on snow and ice," Tian said.
In addition, BOC will also work to meet the Chinese delegation's financial service needs at other future events, such as the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan.
Huang Danggui, general manger of BOC's corporate banking department, said in an earlier interview that the partnership will help the bank group increase its global reach and better serve its clients.
Founded in 1912, the group has the most diverse banking business in China and is the most globalized Chinese bank, with branches in 51 countries and regions; the bank's business covers 179 countries and regions, via more than 1,600 correspondent banks around the world.
"The Olympics, as a unique global marketing platform, provides an influential international stage for brand building and sales promotion," Huang noted. "BOC will make full use of the platform and dovetail with the Olympic spirit to strengthen its reputation, influence and goodwill value."
BOC will develop a series of the Winter Olympics-themed financial products in line with the schedule for the release of the event's logo and mascot. It is authorized for exclusive sales of franchised precious metal souvenirs.
It is on BOC's agenda to improve its banking infrastructure and service network to ensure the system's smooth operation amid severe weather conditions, such as windy days or low temperature.
Information technology and smart services will highlight the financial service provider's outlets specially designed for the upcoming Olympics, according to the company.
Smart terminals and multilingual robots as investment counselors recommending financial products will be among the on-the-spot services provided.
BOC's ties with the global sports event can be traced back to 2004, when it was named an official partner of the Beijing Olympics 2008. That status helped the bank to accelerate its pace of going global and improve its world ranking by assets in the banking sector from No 15 in 2003 to No 4 in 2016.
"During the 2008 Olympics, we offered comprehensive financial services and created the record of 'no complaints from clients and no errors in services'," Huang said.
That successful experience contributed to BOC winning the bid to be an official partner of the 2022 Winter Games, he added.
Huang also cited the bank's operation performance, brand image and advantages in globalization and overseas business as other reasons for its successful bid.
The bank generated 484.6 billion yuan ($71.42 billion) in business revenue last year, an increase of 1.96 percent from 2015, and its net profits increased 2.58 percent year-on-year to 181.4 billion yuan.
BOC is the only Chinese bank that has ranked among the top 500 commercial banks worldwide for 28 consecutive years in the Fortune rankings. It has been granted the well-known trademark status by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the only bank to have won that honor.
It is also the bank with the most exchangeable foreign currencies for individuals in China - BOC can handle foreign exchange in 34 currencies for individuals and offer international remittance services for individuals in 18 currencies, covering more than 40 countries and regions, Huang said.
During the Rio Olympics 2016 in Brazil, BOC was then the only Chinese bank capable of Brazilian real currency conversion, he said.
A strong international team, including more than 20,000 overseas employees and a large group of experts in languages - such as English, German, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Korean and Portuguese - has been the key to the bank's globalization journey and also a contributing factor in its securing the partnership.
"The enthusiasm for the Olympics has never faded among our staff," Huang said. "We are looking forward to contributing to the 2022 Winter Olympics."
"BOC champions the 'participation and sharing' concept, and wants to promote wider participation in a variety of sports events, especially snow and ice sports, to lead a new trend for a healthy lifestyle."
来源：中国日报 By Wang Xin 2017-07-14
Sporting spirit has been deeply embedded in the Bank of China's corporate values, said Huang Danggui, general manager of the company's corporate banking department.
Since its founding in 1912, BOC has highly valued the health of its staff. There are photos showing that there were tennis and basket courts, as well as a table tennis center, in the BOC Shanghai branch's dormitory compound in 1923. "And we still have our company's basketball team photo taken in 1946," Huang said.
Huang, who runs marathons himself, said many of the bank's employees participate in sports.
Li Shanshan, a champion gymnast during the Beijing Olympics in 2008, now works at the BOC Macao branch.
Wang Xiaolin, an information technology department manager at the bank's Yunnan office, completed the annual Tor des Geants, or the Tour of the Giants, held in Italy, on three consecutive occasions. It is considered one of the toughest cross-country races in the world,
He also claimed the championship of a three-day, 246-kilometer Chinese endurance event through Taiwan in 2014.
Wang still holds the record among Chinese participants in the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in the United States.
"Running is the best way to release tension, which makes me relaxed and more energetic at work," he said.
Veronika Holmgren, a BOC employee in Sweden, has held the championship in an annual yachting race for four years.
The Chinese government pledged during its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics to enable 300 million Chinese people to participate in snow and ice sports.
"Participants in snow and ice sports have a good income and strong consumption capacity, and so they are one of our target groups," Huang said.
"There is enormous potential for developing related industries, which will bring about huge opportunities for our business clients," he said. "As the client group is growing larger and stronger, it is our turn to ofer customized financial services to meet their needs."
Since 1988, BOC has issued seven types of Olympic-themed credit cards.
In addition, the bank provided services for the Asian Games in 1990 and partnered with the 2012 Asian Beach Games and the 2013 National Games. It also sponsored a series of other events, including the 2017 Beijing International Running Festival and Beijing Half Marathon.
An active player in advancing cooperation in the sports industry, BOC helped British Columbia in Canada and Zhangjiakou, a co-host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Hebei province, to reach an agreement on the construction of a Sino-Canadian Winter Olympic industrial park in 2016.
The bank has also signed another deal with Invest in Finland, a government agency, for collaboration in ice and snow related industries.
来源：中国日报 By Wang Xin 2017-07-14
The marketing program of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games gained momentum on Thursday, as Bank of China signed with the Beijing Organizing Committee to become the official banking partner of the milestone event.
After a qualification review, the committee said it selected BOC as its first official partner－the top tier of a four-level sponsor system－for its reliable banking service and experience serving previous Olympics.
"Successful marketing guarantees the delivery of a fantastic Olympics by providing funds, products and services. It also offers a high-profile branding opportunity for companies. Today is a great beginning for both sides," said Chen Jining, acting mayor of Beijing and executive president of the organizing committee.
Zhang Jiandong, executive vice-president of the committee, and BOC President Chen Siqing signed the partnership, witnessed by the committee's president Cai Qi, who is also Party chief of Beijing, and Tian Guoli, chairman of the bank.
The marketing program, which was launched in February, includes three components－sponsorships, licensing and ticketing. It aims to raise funds while granting partners the use of Beijing 2022 trademarks and other intellectual property for branding.
Beijing 2022 breaks sponsors into four tiers－official partners, sponsors, exclusive suppliers and suppliers－based on different prices and rights.
BOC was also the banking partner of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. It plans to build on the expertise it gained at that time to better serve the winter sports extravaganza and promote winter sports, Tian said.
"Boasting the experience of the 2008 Olympics, we are confident that we can contribute to hosting an extraordinary Winter Games with a green, sharing, open and clean approach," Tian said.
To cater to the special demands of winter events, the bank will upgrade its facilities and services to make sure that all Olympic-related devices function well in extremely cold and windy weather.
It will also provide transparent auditing and budget management services to guarantee that Beijing 2022 stays clear of corruption while leveraging its international financing networks to support the country's winter sports industry, Tian said.
Since 2015, when Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Olympics with co-host Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, the investment in winter sports facilities has seen a surge, highlighted by a national plan to build 650 skating rinks (200 more than the current number) and 800 ski resorts (500 more than currently) by 2022.
With the marketing program, funding and services from interested partners in various sectors are expected to accelerate the development of the winter sports industry, observers said.
来源：中国日报 By Sun Xiaochen 2017-07-14