Asia at the Olympics
This article is part of a special series we’ve prepared to mark the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
During the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese men’s hockey team drew significant global media attention – even though they didn’t win a single game. For many, the mere presence of the host nation’s squad in the Olympic tournament was one of the event’s biggest controversies, if not an outright stain on the competition. The reason? Nearly two-thirds of the roster consisted of naturalized players, sparking heated debates about the team’s legitimacy.
But was this criticism truly justified? In this series, we take a deep dive into the making of China’s Olympic hockey team – from the moment Beijing was awarded hosting rights to the Games, to the lasting impact of the home team’s participation on the global stage.
How Did China’s Hockey Team Qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics?
The decision to award Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics – making it the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Games – was made by the International Olympic Committee during its session in Kuala Lumpur in July 2015. China’s capital edged out Kazakhstan’s Almaty, its sole competitor in the bidding process. The selection immediately sparked a wave of reactions, both positive and negative.
Within hockey circles, one question stood out: What would this mean for the host nation’s hockey team? Could a squad ranked 38th in the IIHF standings – one that, in 2015, was competing in the fifth tier of the World Championship system (Division IIB) – somehow prepare to face the world’s best in less than seven years? And, perhaps more importantly, would the IIHF even allow it?
The Olympics as a Chance to Grow Hockey in China
The Chinese Ice Hockey Association, together with relevant political authorities, wasted no time getting to work. After all, China is renowned for its grand-scale projects, and with the resources at its disposal, nothing is out of reach for the country’s leadership.
Financial resources were immediately directed toward the development of winter sports, with carefully crafted projects designed to achieve both short-term and long-term objectives. The immediate goal was to prepare local athletes for the home Olympics, but the broader vision was to establish winter sports as a thriving economic sector.
Ice hockey, in particular, stood out as a highly promising investment. The sport’s inherently high demands on equipment and infrastructure meant the potential for significant industry growth, creating opportunities for large-scale manufacturing, logistics, and organizational involvement.
China’s Hockey Boom Gave Rise to Haoxi Wang
The year 2015 marked a turning point in the development of Chinese hockey – one that continues to unfold today. The first step was building the necessary infrastructure, and in a short span, Beijing alone saw the opening of dozens of new ice rinks. This rapid expansion allowed thousands of children to lace up their skates and pick up a hockey stick for the first time.
Fast forward to today, and China is beginning to reap the benefits of its youth hockey boom. Defenseman Haoxi Wang (also known as Simon Wang), who got his start in Beijing after one of these newly built rinks opened, became the highest-drafted Chinese player in NHL history in 2025.
Unlike many other Chinese-born players who moved abroad early, Wang spent most of his youth hockey career in China. His mother, entrepreneur Willa Wang, was directly involved in projects aimed at expanding Beijing’s hockey infrastructure (1):
Development Program for the Winter Olympics Preparation
China’s Olympic team, however, couldn’t rely on the children who took up hockey after 2015 – there simply wasn’t enough time. While the country embarked on this long-term march to grow the sport, parallel efforts were made to fast-track the development of players who were old enough to be potential candidates for the home Olympics.
Chinese authorities worked closely with hockey powerhouses throughout this process, particularly Russia, but also the Czech Republic and the United States. The central plan for preparing China’s Olympic hockey team consisted of several key projects:
- Chinese Team in the KHL: Establishment of Kunlun Red Star and its entry into Russia’s top-tier league.
- Chinese Teams in the VHL: Formation and inclusion of KRS Heilongjiang (later KRS-BSU Beijing) and Tsen Tou Jilin in Russia’s second-tier league.
- Chinese Team in the MHL: Participation of a Chinese junior club in Russia’s top junior league, competing under various names, including KRS Junior, KRS Heilongjiang, and ORG Junior Beijing.
- Chinese Team in the Czech Third League: The China Golden Dragon club was created to compete in the Czech Republic’s third-tier league.
- Three Junior Teams in North America: Involvement of Beijing Shougang Eagles in the USPHL Elite, Team Beijing 16U in the EJEPL 16U, and Blyth Red Star in the PSHF U18.
- Gaining Experience in North America: Placement of several talented Chinese players in youth leagues across Canada and the U.S.
- Scouting Players of Chinese Descent in Overseas Leagues: Recruiting eligible players and integrating them into various leagues and development programs (KHL, VHL, MHL, etc.) based on their skill levels.
- Chinese Team in the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH): The long-running China Dragon team, which had competed in the transnational Asian league long before Beijing was awarded Olympic hosting rights, was deemed unviable and discontinued in 2017.
The various player development hubs were interconnected, with Chinese hockey officials systematically moving players between them based on immediate needs. This structure created a developmental pathway, with Kunlun Red Star positioned at the top as the pinnacle of the system.
Kunlun Red Star – China’s First Team in the KHL
Kunlun Red Star, competing in the world’s second-best league, was designed as the pinnacle of China’s hockey development system. Only Chinese players who met the necessary performance standards were meant to earn a spot on the roster, which was otherwise built around top-tier imports from established hockey nations.
Early on, however, Chinese hockey officials made a rather naïve attempt to fast-track local talent by throwing a few homegrown players straight into the deep end. In the club’s inaugural 2016–17 KHL season, three Chinese players took the ice: Guanhua Wang appeared in just one game, while Tianxiang Xia and Rudi Ying managed 15 and 25 games, respectively – though none registered a single point. It quickly became evident that homegrown talent struggled to keep pace with the league’s intensity.
Rudi Ying, who had been brought back from North America by Kunlun specifically for the Beijing Olympics, didn’t hold back after the Games. Once the tournament was over, he openly criticized the decision (2):
The leadership behind China’s player development program took this lesson to heart. They began placing players into leagues more carefully, ensuring that their assignments matched their actual skill levels. As a result, Kunlun’s roster featured mostly naturalized players of Chinese descent – so-called heritage players – led by Brandon Yip, Zach Yuen, Tyler Wong, and the Foo brothers, Spencer and Parker.
Meanwhile, homegrown Chinese players were given time to develop in leagues better suited to their abilities, gaining experience in the MHL, VHL, lower-tier Czech league, and North American junior competitions.
The Development Program Starts To Deliver
The pre-Olympic development project was progressing fairly well. Defenseman Pengfei Zhang steadily worked his way through the system, advancing from the junior-level MHL to the VHL and eventually reaching the KHL. The same path was followed by Rudi Ying.
Some players gained experience in multiple leagues across different continents during their Olympic preparation. Yuyang Hou, for instance – though he ultimately didn’t make the Olympic roster – had stints in the USPHL Elite, the Czech third division, and the MHL. Meanwhile, Ruinan Yan and Xudong Xiang tested themselves in the Czech third league and the VHL before eventually earning spots in the KHL lineup.
I Want You! Seeking Hockey Players of Chinese Descent
Developing homegrown players was important, but it was far from enough. Chinese hockey officials knew all too well that to avoid embarrassment at their long-anticipated home Olympics, they would need to bolster the roster with naturalized players. After 2015, they launched an extensive search for skilled players from top leagues – ones who, at the very least, had some connection to Chinese heritage.
They did manage to find several such players – each with varying degrees of “Chineseness.” At one end of the spectrum was Zach Yuen, a Vancouver native but a full-blooded Chinese player through both parents (3), along with Brandon Yip, who was three-quarters Chinese. (4)
Then there were players like Ty Schultz, whose Chinese roots came through his grandmother, legendary high jump world record holder Zheng Fengrong. (5) And finally, there was Ethan Werek – whose face bore no Asian features, yet whose lineage could be traced back to the Russian-Jewish community of Harbin, China. (6)
Naturally, players with experience in the NHL, AHL, NCAA, or top-tier North American junior leagues didn’t require much evaluation – they were sent straight to Kunlun, where they could log two, or in some cases, four seasons to meet the eligibility requirements for representing China.
The others joined homegrown Chinese players in various development programs. One such example was goalie Paris O’Brien, a naturalized player of Chinese descent, who worked his way through the entire system – from the MHL to the KHL – before earning his spot.
Bringing Back Chinese Players from Canada and the U.S.
It’s worth noting that even before 2015, Chinese hockey had its own rising stars playing abroad – mostly in lower-tier or junior leagues in Canada and the U.S.
Chinese-born players like Rudi Ying, Juncheng Yan, Zimeng “Simon” Chen, Wei “Peter” Zhong and Yang “Sam” Hu spent years overseas, with some playing their entire hockey careers outside China. Naturally, Kunlun took notice and brought them into the KHL to strengthen the team’s authentic Chinese presence on the roster.
Andong Song: The First Chinese NHL Draft Pick Ends His Career Before It Really Begins
The biggest star of the team was supposed to be Andong Song, who made history in 2015 as the first Chinese player ever drafted into the NHL. He was expected to be the poster boy of China’s Olympic squad, or even Chinese hockey’s Yao Ming.
However, his career took an entirely unexpected turn. After being drafted and moving from the USHL to the NCAA, he never played a single game for his college team. In 2020, the New York Islanders prospect attended a summer pre-Olympic training camp in Shenyang, but soon after, he made the surprising decision to walk away from hockey entirely, opting instead for a career in a completely different field.
Asia at the Olympics
Article Series
Sources, Quotes and Notes:
- nytimes.com/athletic/5891569/2024/12/04/nhl-draft-2025-haoxi-simon-wang/
- thechinaproject.com/2022/04/21/i-dont-think-were-moving-in-the-right-direction-rudi-ying-on-chinese-hockey/
- scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3165990/winter-olympics-zach-yuen-canadian-hong-kong-ice-hockey-star
- cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/olympics-2022-china-hockey-captain-bc-1.6353764
- reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/schultz-takes-care-family-business-with-team-china-2022-02-16/
- forward.com/news/482168/ethan-werek-canadian-jewish-hockey-player-beijing-olympics/
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