Hong Kong CNN —China’s leader Xi Jinping is to declare the Asian Games open at a lotus-shaped mega stadium in Hangzhou on Saturday. More than 12,000 athletes from the 45 members of the Asian Olympic Council will participate, making it the largest Asian Games ever, the Chinese state media news agency Xinhua reported Saturday. The ceremony will be attended by around 50,000 people, while more than 1,200 volunteers will be at the venue to help, Xinhua reported. To promote environmental responsibility, digital fireworks will be used at the opening ceremony instead of actual fireworks, Xinhua reported citing the ceremony’s director Sha Xiaolan. Hangzhou, the home of Chinese tech-giant Alibaba, aims to demonstrate cutting-edge technologies during the games, including cloud computing and artificial intelligence at the Games Village, Xinhua reported.

---

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Xi Jinping, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, Bashar al, Assad, Hong, John Lee Ka, Han Duck, Qin Haiyang, Yang Liwei, Sha Xiaolan, ” Sha, Xi Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Asian Olympic, Asian Games, Xinhua, Korea’s, Games Locations: Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Cambodian, Syrian, ”, Xinhua, Asia