Students from several schools produced videos providing "good wishes" for Beijing 2022 and celebrating Pakistan's alliance with China ©Pakistan Olympic Association

The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has staged a video competition to celebrate the opening of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

The contest was centred on the theme of "chatting about China-Pakistan friendship and good wishes for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics", with students from several schools producing videos along these lines.

It was organised in cooperation with the All Pakistan-China Friendship Association, and an in-person ceremony was held at the POA headquarters in Lahore to honour the students who took part.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former international cricketer, is set to attend Beijing 2022's Opening Ceremony at the National Stadium in China's capital on Friday (February 4).

China and Pakistan, who share a land border, have served as close allies since establishing diplomatic relations in the early 1950s.

The long-term plan China-Pakistan Economic Corridor covers the period from 2017 until 2030, and connects China’s Xinjiang province with Gwadar port in the Pakistani province of Balochistan.

It forms part of China's Belt and Road initiative, with the country pledging more than $60 billion (£44 billion/€53 billion) for infrastructure projects in Pakistan, mostly in the form of loans.

Alpine skier Muhammad Karim is set to compete for Pakistan for the third consecutive Winter Olympics ©Getty Images
Alpine skier Muhammad Karim is set to compete for Pakistan for the third consecutive Winter Olympics ©Getty Images

Khan has previously said he accepts China's denials of the alleged human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang which have dominated the build-up to Beijing 2022 and been cited as a primary reason for the United States-led diplomatic boycott of the Games.

China has faced accusations of using forced Uyghur labour, operating a mass surveillance programme, detaining thousands in internment camps, carrying out forced sterilisations and intentionally destroying Uyghur heritage in the region.

Beijing has claimed the camps are training centres for stamping out Islamist extremism and separatism.

The diplomatic boycott has been rejected by politicians from countries including Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin is set to join Khan at the Opening Ceremony.

Pakistan has yet to win a medal in three appearances at the Winter Olympics since its debut at Vancouver 2010, with Alpine skier Muhammad Karim set to be its only athlete representative at Beijing 2022.

The Winter Olympics are scheduled to run until February 20.