国内英语新闻:Xinhua, Samaranch Foundation to strengthen cooperation on sports

BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's Xinhua News Agency will work with the Samaranch Foundation on China's sporting development, said Xinhua's Editor-in-Chief He Ping here on Friday.

He was meeting with Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the son of the late IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, in Xinhua's headquarters in Beijing.

"Your father was an old friend of China," He told Samaranch Jr. , expressing his respect and appreciation to the Samaranch family for the long-term support they have provided to China's sporting cause.

Sport is a common pursuit without boundaries, said He. "It is time for Xinhua and the Samaranch Foundation to cooperate."

The Samaranch Sports Channel established by Xinhua's Reference News and the Samaranch Foundation will be launched online on Saturday.

He said he hoped the two sides would work together to promote Olympic culture in China.

Samaranch Jr. said the main goals of the Foundation are "keeping and promoting the legacy of the relationship with China, supporting Olympism in the country, and contributing to closer cultural, economic and financial relations between Spain and China".

He said he expected to work with Xinhua to contribute more to China's sports cause.

Launched in July 2012, the Samaranch Foundation is a non-profit foundation registered in China. The original funds of the Foundation were donated by the Samaranch Family, the International Olympic Committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Beijing Olympic City Development Association, the Spanish Government and others.

Juan Antonio Samaranch served as the seventh President of the IOC from 1980 to 2001. He died of cardio-respiratory failure in Barcelona on April 21, 2010.