International sports events highlight youth winter camp in Inner Mongolia

A winter camp for teenagers featuring China-Russia-Mongolia ice hockey, snowfield soccer and skating competitions kicked off Wednesday in Hohhot, capital of northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

A total of 87 sports events including skiing, winter swimming as well as ice and snow marathon are scheduled during the four-month winter camp, according to local sports bureau.

The events will be organized across Inner Mongolia, the host for China's 14th National Winter Games in 2020.

The region has taken measures to attract winter games participants. Last year, the local sports bureau invested one million yuan (about 0.15 million US dollars) in skiing and skating facilities. The region's capital Hohhot issued 100,000 skiing tickets for free to teenage skiers.

"We would like to help youngsters keep fit through winter games and look for winter sports talents during the camp," said Wu Gang, deputy director of Inner Mongolia Sports Bureau.