More than 960,000 people have applied to be Beijing 2022 volunteers ©Getty Images

More than 960,000 people have applied to be volunteers at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Recruitment for the Beijing 2022 volunteer programme began in December last year. 

The 960,000 applicants come from 168 countries and regions, as reported by CGTN. 

Ninety-six per cent of the applications are from people under the age of 35, with 85 per cent university students. 

More than 2,000 people with disabilities have applied. 

Preparations for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics remain on track despite the COVID-19 pandemic ©Getty Images
Preparations for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics remain on track despite the COVID-19 pandemic ©Getty Images

In total, the Beijing 2022 volunteer application portal has been viewed more than 33 million times with 1.22 million users registered.

The next edition of the Winter Olympics are scheduled for February 4 to 20 in the Chinese capital, followed by the Paralympics from March 4 to 13. 

Volunteers are set to undergo training before the Games, while those who are not chosen may still be given roles as city volunteers. 

A total of 27,000 volunteers will be needed for the Olympics, and 12,000 for the Paralympics.

Despite disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the cancellation of test events, preparations for Beijing 2022 are reportedly on track.