On June 20, Inner Mongolia dairy products manufacturer Yili Group released a statement on their official WeChat account, accusing the dairy products manufacturer China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited, a company controlled by COFCO Group, of sabotaging the 2022 Winter Olympics. 

According to the statement, Mengniu Dairy planned to announce to the world on Olympic Day, June 23, that it has been designated by the International Olympic Committee as their global partner for the ‘beverages’ category. Yili says that this designation is in conflict with the ‘dairy products’ category whose rights have been granted to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics organizing committee (BOC), thereby sabotaging the BOC’s marketing ability to build partnerships with companies and thus violating the lawful rights and interests of official partners of the BOC. 

According to the release, Yili will consider terminating its partnership with the Beijing Winter Olympics organizing committee, and possibly the full termination of its partnership with the Olympic Games after December 31, 2024.

Reference: Yutang Sports

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick