Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, is the clear favourite to be awarded the Games but Almaty’s bid team said they were more confident after their presentation.
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Each city was given 45 minutes to make their final pitches, with another 15 minutes allotted for questions and answers. Almaty was due up first.
Oil-rich Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov said that holding the Olympics could improve the political atmosphere.
Former National Basketball Association player and Houston Rockets center Yao Ming was to be the centerpiece of the Chinese presentation to the IOC, promising to spread the appeal of winter sports in the rising world power.
On Friday, supporters wearing white t-shirts with Beijing lettering handed out both Chinese and five-ring Olympic flags to passers-by.
Beijing’s biggest drawback, identified by the IOC, is a lack of snow at the mountain venues, which are some 90km and 160km respectively away from Beijing, forcing organisers to create tonnes of artificial snow.
Beijing and Almaty were both considered longshots when the 2022 bid race opened two years ago.
IOC president Thomas Bach told AFP ahead of the vote that there were still “excellent” candidates and that he was not disappointed that only two cities were left.
But after Russian Federation spent more than $50 billion to stage the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Oslo, Stockholm, Krakow in Poland and Lviv in Ukraine all withdrew because of cost fears and local politics.
Almaty is bidding for a second time, but this is the first time it made it to the vote after being cut in the preliminary stage for the 2014 Games.
All of Almaty’s venues are within 30 kilometres (18 miles) of the city, which the delegation portrayed as a “winter wonderland”.
Beijing would use several venues from the 2008 Summer Olympics, including the “Bird’s Nest” stadium and “Water Cube ” arena.
At first sight Beijing and Almaty’s competition may seem like “David vs Goliath”, although little is known about the former Soviet republic.
“The 2022 Olympic Winter Games if held in China will boost exchanges and mutual understanding between the Chinese and other civilisations of the world, encourage more than 1.3 billion Chinese to engage in winter sports with interest and passion and give them yet another opportunity to help advance the Olympic movement and promote the Olympic spirit”, said President Xi.
Human rights groups have called on the IOC to ensure that the winning bid upholds new clauses in the host city contract on non-discrimination and protection of rights during the games.
Massimov said the IOC has been “brave” in the past, including by challenging apartheid in South Africa, going to Moscow for the 1980 Games at the height of the Cold War and giving the games to Beijing in 2008.
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“The IOC has to respect the laws of sovereign states”, he said.
