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Economic Challenges and Political Signals: Recap of the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023

[Voice of Hope, October 9, 2023](Comprehensive report by our reporter Yang Zheng) The Hangzhou Asian Games concluded on October 8. Officials announced that as of the 5th, the total business revenue of the Asian Games was 5.316 billion yuan, which was less than the investment cost. 3%. US media pointed out that the Hangzhou Asian Games did not generate much economic revenue, but sent a lot of political signals.

A number of mainland media reported on the 8th that the Hangzhou Asian Games held a press conference to summarize the event on October 7. Data released at the meeting showed that the ticket revenue of the Hangzhou Asian Games exceeded 600 million yuan.

Guangming Daily, the official media of the Communist Party of China, reported that Du Mengfei, deputy director of the Market Development Department of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, said on the 5th that as of now, the total market development revenue of the Hangzhou Asian Games and Asian Para Games is 5.316 billion yuan, of which 176 in 118 categories. companies, with a total sponsorship amount of 4.4178 billion yuan, accounting for 83.1% of the total market development revenue of this Asian Games. Sponsorship revenue and sponsor scale are the highest in previous Asian Games; sales of licensed products such as mascots reached 760 million yuan.

However, according to a report by mainland media The Paper in June this year, Hangzhou is preparing to host the Asian Games, investing 224.8 billion yuan in infrastructure construction from 2016 to 2020, such as urban rail transit, Hangzhou West Railway Station, Xiaoshan International Airport Phase III, Asian Games venues, Asian Games Village, etc. .

The report also said that even if the venue construction is a direct investment for the event and should not be included in the indirect investment related to the Asian Games, even after deducting the expenses for venue construction, Hangzhou still invested at least 200 billion yuan in urban infrastructure during the preparations for the Asian Games from 2016 to 2020. .

Guangzhou invested 109 billion yuan in the preparations for hosting the Asian Games in 2010, which means that the investment in the Hangzhou Asian Games was more than twice that of the Guangzhou Asian Games. Income is less than 3% of expenses.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported in September that people in Hangzhou expressed their opinion about the cost of more than 200 billion: “This money is best spent on ordinary people.”

Voice of America once quoted Hong Kong current affairs commentator Liu Ruishuo as saying that the Chinese Communist Party organizes events with an eye on external publicity and internal economic benefits. Whether it wastes people and money is not an official consideration. He said: “Such a Games cannot change the tone of China’s current economy, but it is difficult to return to normal (recovery). Therefore, the Hangzhou Asian Games cannot solve the problems of people who cannot adapt to the current economic structure and living standards, nor can it cause problems. their interest.”

Radio Free Asia pointed out that the economic benefits of the Hangzhou Asian Games were not good, but they sent a lot of political signals: North Korea, which was sanctioned by the Anti-Doping Organization, could not raise its national flag, but the Korean flag could be seen everywhere at the Asian Games, demonstrating the friendship between China and North Korea; the accident in Afghanistan The crowd waved the flags of the old regime and entered the venue because in addition to the all-male team of the Taliban, there were also female athletes in exile overseas; when the dictatorship of Syria came on stage, the audience cheered enthusiastically, and the Syrian President Assad, who has committed crimes against humanity, had a prominent seat. ; In contrast, when countries with disputes over the South China Sea with China appeared, the audience was significantly quieter; one of the loudest cheers was from the Taiwan team. After the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council downgraded the Winter Olympics to “Chinese Taipei” last year, Taiwan announced Not participating in the opening and closing ceremonies, this year it became “Chinese Taipei” to show its goodwill to Taiwan; the Hong Kong men’s football team lost 1:2 to Uzbekistan in Group C, and the Cantonese classic pop song “Really Love You” played on the field, “South China Morning Post” According to analysis, this is to please Hong Kong citizens under the new political situation.

Editor in charge: Lin Li

This article or program was edited and produced by Voice of Hope. When reprinting, please indicate Voice of Hope and include the original title and link.

2023-10-09 12:35:45

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