The Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium has a capacity of 80,000, and is scheduled to host the athletics events and Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games ©Getty Images

Chinese technology company and major International Olympic Committee (IOC) sponsor Alibaba has secured a 15-year contract to oversee the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre, which includes the main venue for next year's Asian Games, through its sports division.

The complex includes the main 80,000-capacity Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium, which will stage athletics events as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Games, and the Hangzhou Sports Park Tennis Centre, which holds up to 10,000.

These two venues are nicknamed "Big Lotus" and "Small Lotus" respectively.

It opened in December 2018, and staged the International Swimming Federation World Short Course Swimming Championships in the same month.

The Hangzhou 2022 Organising Committee revealed in April that final approval had been given to the Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium and the aquatics centre for the Asian Games.

As reported by Lanxiong Sports, Alibaba Sports has finalised a deal to operate and manage the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre.

The company initially won rights for the site in November 2020, and a formal contract has now been signed.

The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre opened in December 2018, and staged the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in the same month ©Getty Images
The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre opened in December 2018, and staged the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in the same month ©Getty Images

Alibaba became a top-tier sponsor for the IOC in 2017, and is a member of its The Olympic Partner Programme with exclusive rights for cloud infrastructure, cloud services and ticketing and e-commerce platform services.

The Group became an official partner of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in 2019, and according to Lanxiong Sports, its event service management platform will be adapted for the "Big Lotus" and "Small Lotus" venues in time for the event next September.

Mu Yang, the chief executive of Alibaba Sports, explained some of its plans for the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre.

"Alibaba Sports plans to combine the existing infrastructure of the venues and use 5G, AR [augmented reality]/VR [virtual reality], IoT [the internet of things], big data, AI artificial intelligence, digital twins and other new-generation information technologies to connect the data resources of the large and small lotus and surrounding areas to form a low-carbon, efficient, intelligent, and convenient new pattern to provide digital support for venue operations, urban transportation, local service and other dispatching during the event, to ensure the 'digital wisdom' Asian Games, and help Hangzhou to host a 'green, intelligent, thrifty, and civilised' Asian Games," Mu said.

The 19th edition of the Asian Games is scheduled to take place from September 10 to 25 next year.

It will be the third time the event has been held in China, following Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010.