Celebrations Qingdao Act I

A focused discussion

“Olympics Adding Charm to the City” was the theme of the “High-Level Dialogue on the 10th Anniversary of the 2008 Qingdao Olympic Sailing Competition”. The programme focused on topics such as the inheritance of Olympic culture, the use of Olympic legacy, the development of the sailing sport, the building of the city brand, and the connectivity of the “Belt and Road” initiative to discuss the present and future of Olympic Cities from the perspective of city development.

Articulated around keynote speeches and thematic discussions, the High-Level Dialogue ended with the release of the “Qingdao Consensus”, an ambitious document that sets up the lines for the City’s future development built upon its Olympic past.

Vision and expectations of the Dialogue were to promote the development of the sailing industry and create new advantages for the blue economy; to make sailing part of a fashionable lifestyle and enable the Olympic accomplishments to benefit the City’s development with marine leisure sports such as sailing as the basis; and to take a globally-leading role in building the brand of Sailing City and help achieve the goal of a more open, modern, dynamic, and fashionable City through sailing.

Building the future on the Olympic history

The City of Qingdao fully integrates its Olympic connection with its current and future development. Therefore, the Dialogue aimed at:

– Linking past, present and future through dialogue; to discuss inheritance and use of the host city’s Olympic Legacy, sailing industry and city brand building;

– Linking Olympic History with development of the City and its related sport industry, investments and projects;

– Celebrating Olympism and its values through the Qingdao Consensus (released at the end of the High-Level Dialogue), which urges carrying forward the Olympic Culture and Spirit;

– Promoting the City by leveraging its affiliation to the Olympic Movement and encourage visitors to enjoy the Olympic history of Qingdao, experience and learn about the Olympic achievements, notably by visiting the Olympic Sailing Centre and the Olympic Sailing Museum;

– Further promoting Qingdao’s international reputation and influence through sharing Qingdao’s major efforts in the inheritance of the Olympic spirit and in building the city brand of Sailing City, formulating the development goals and work plan for the next ten years, and inviting guests from the IOC and World Sailing for analysis and demonstration during the High-Level Dialogue on the 10th Anniversary of the 2008 Qingdao Olympic Sailing Competition.

Promoting Qingdao as a world-renowned Sailing City

To do so, development plans are:

– To link Qingdao and sailing more closely through integrating the multi-level approach with diverse communication channels such as Internet, TV, newspapers and magazines, and adopting a flexible combination of multi-media to conduct integrated communication and a press campaign;

– To maintain the function of Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre as a fashionable leisure tourism resort demonstration area in North China and promote the development of sailing tourism, trade, conventions and exhibitions, and catering industry;

– To show the world an Olympic Sailing Centre with a new look that integrates culture, tourism and sports.

– To comprehensively evaluate and sort out the results of the “opinions on developing the sailing sport” put forward by the CPC Qingdao Committee and Qingdao Municipal Government after the Olympic Sailing Competition through the High-Level Dialogue. Then summarise and popularise the experience and raise suggestions for improvements, so as to consolidate and improve the connotation of Qingdao as an open, dynamic, modern and fashionable international metropolis.