Chinese firms shine, achieve excellence at Games

One hundred years after the previous Summer Olympics in France, the world's premier sporting event returned to Paris with great fanfare this year and Chinese companies played a significant role in making them the success they were.

Today, innovative Chinese companies are at the forefront of key Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure.

Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, provided cloud-based broadcasting capabilities, pioneering AI-powered multicamera replay technology to elevate the viewing experience for fans. Many other Chinese companies also made their mark.

Taishan Sports, a leading supplier of sports equipment from Shandong province, provided the judo and wrestling mats, continuing its legacy of serving in seven Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Hebei Zhangkong Barbell Manufacturing supplied the specialized barbells used in the weightlifting events, building on its reputation as a trusted supplier for the Olympics.

Chris Tung, president of strategic development at Alibaba Group, said: "Our goal is to use technology to innovate the Games. With cloud-based broadcasting, the audience will be able to see more different versions of videos in real time, not only on TV, but also across the short-video platforms and mobile devices they love to watch."

Emphasizing the global significance of the Olympics, he added: "When it happens, it's magical — it captures the attention of people worldwide. Naturally, it forms a powerful platform for us to showcase the innovative applications we've been developing around the world."

Tung underscored the importance of providing an engaging experience for viewers, saying: "There are billions of people who love to watch the Olympics on TV or online. For those not present at the venues, it's important to deliver the Games in a more engaging and exciting way. That's where AI and cloud platforms can elevate the viewing experience by presenting the most exciting moments with enhanced clarity."

At the Paris Olympics, Alibaba introduced its latest multicamera replay service, allowing broadcasters to freeze the action at any moment and rotate around the still image. Tung believes this feature adds a new level of excitement and engagement for viewers.

Alibaba's vision extends beyond enhancing the broadcast experience. The company showcased its technological prowess through events like Alibaba Wonder Avenue on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, where it demonstrated the future of shopping with AI-powered solutions.

Throughout the Games, Alibaba welcomed fans to explore how technology is revolutionizing the e-commerce experience. An intelligent shopping assistant, powered by Qwen, Alibaba Cloud's proprietary language model, offered a personalized service to each visitor, highlighting the power of AI through Qwen's multilingual and image-generation capabilities.

According to Tung, Alibaba's success in leveraging the Olympics is largely due to its youthful and talented workforce. In an interview with China Daily at Alibaba's new headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, before the Olympics, he said: "Our employees are generally young. With over 200,000 employees, the average age is under 35."

Tung said young people are attracted to Alibaba because it offers them the chance to "make a difference" in an environment that is open and where the possibilities are endless.

"Many of our innovative initiatives come from young, newly hired employees who bring forward ideas that benefit both our business and the world," he said. "And they actually see these ideas come to life. We have many examples of this."