The Chinese city of Pinggu will be hosting the 16th World Leisure Congress in 2020. On July 2016, Pinggu District Government and the World Leisure Organization (WLO) signed the contract that established the general basis for preparing the general program for the international Congress. Since then, quite a few movements have been made and the organization of this major leisure event keeps progressing steadily.

Firstly, a series of important collaboration agreements have been signed with key actors in the Chinese leisure field. China Tourism Group, the biggest tourism and leisure company in China, signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with the Congress organizing team. Cooperation agreements were also signed with Huazhong Group and Mao Yuan Group, for the construction of the East High Village Music & Leisure venue and the Jinhai Lake Racing Sports & Leisure venue, respectively. A latter agreement was reached with Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute, which will be responsible for staff training and other specifics in the organization World Leisure Congress.

Secondly, on April 1, 2017, the Executive Committee of the General Assembly held its first meeting to consider and adopt the Action Plan for the 2020 Beijing-Pinggu World Leisure Congress, formally establishing the Executive Committee and its office. The Executive Committee counts among its members with representatives from the WLO, municipal departments, universities, enterprises and other agents working in the leisure field.

With regard to facilities, thirdly, the construction of the block where the General Assembly will have its headquarters has been approved by the Municipal Planning Commission in terms of land use. The works for the building of the of the East High Village Music & Leisure venue and the Jinhai Lake Racing Sports & Leisure venue will also initiate soon. Beijing TV Station will be in charge of the video production, and the Congress’ official website will be in place in the near future.

Finally, three “Beijing-China Leisure Conferences” will be held in Pinggu each year, from 2017 to 2019, as a warm-up for the 2020 World Leisure Congress. The first conference will be held this year, in the months of September and October.

We congratulate the local team for the solid network they are building and encourage them to keep up with the good work! Stay tuned for more information!

Photo credit: Roger Coles (WLO Chairman) at the signing ceremony, by Beijing-Pinggu World Leisure Congress organising team.