Lee Hee-beom delivered a keynote address in Beijing ©Pyeongchang 2018

Pyeongchang 2018 Organising Committee President Lee Hee-beom has visited Beijing as part of a bid to "build strong partnerships" between the next two hosts of the Winter Olympic Games.

Lee delivered the keynote address at the first World Winter Sports Expo and Forum which begun today in the Chinese capital, which will follow in Pyeongchang's footsteps and host the Winter Games in 2022.

The South Korean met with Guo Jinlong, the President of the Beijing Organising Committee, and Liu Peng, the Executive President of Beijing 2022 and China's director of general administration of sport.

The discussions come with the next three editions of the Olympics all taking place in Asia, with the 2020 Summer Games in Japan's capital Tokyo taking place between the two Winter events. 

"With Pyeongchang 2018 as a start, three Olympics held in Korea, China and Japan over the course of four years will draw the attention of the world to north-east Asia," said Lee. 

"We will not only stage a successful Olympic Games, but also use this opportunity to create a new partnership for our next generation.

"Collaboration and exchange will be our key in shaping this new future."

Pyeongchang 2018 Organising Committee President Lee Hee-beom has visited Beijing as part of a bid to
Pyeongchang 2018 Organising Committee President Lee Hee-beom has visited Beijing as part of a bid to "build strong partnerships" between the next two hosts of the Winter Olympic Games ©Getty Images

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission visits have been made to both Pyeongchang and Beijing this month.

Pyeongchang were warned that promotion and legacy plans need to improve, while they have been urged to introduce cost-cutting measures using "lessons learnt from Rio 2016".

Beijing's progress was declared to be largely positive by the IOC with their preparations at an early stage. 

The Winter Sports Expo is being co-hosted by the Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) and the International Data Group and is taking place at the China National Convention Centre.

BODA will be working with Beijing 2022 on a number of projects in the run-up to the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in five-and-a-half years’ time.

Four core exhibitions, including winter sports, games and culture, outdoor and leisure, and interactions, are on offer to participants, with 100,000 visitors set to attend in all during the four-day event.

In September, Sports Ministers from Japan, South Korea and China signed a co-operation agreement ahead of the next three Olympic Games.

IOC President Thomas Bach declared that we are currently in the "time of Asia".