"Beijing has the unique distinction of becoming the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. I would like to congratulate and thank the Chinese for managing to host the Games so successfully under the incredibly challenging circumstances of the pandemic," she said during the ceremony on Monday.

The other eight flames will be lit in schools, libraries and historic landmarks in the three Paralympics competition zones. At the Beijing School for the Blind, students will sing to ignite one of the flames by activating a pressure sensor.

"The flames collected from the three competition zones and Stoke Mandeville will converge to become the flame of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics on Wednesday afternoon," said Xu Zhijun, a deputy secretary-general of the organizing committee.