The International Olympic Committee has retained three bid cities in the race for the 2022 Winter Olympics - Beijing, Oslo and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The three were the only remaining contenders after a series of withdrawals by other candidates.

The IOC executive board decided on Monday to approve all three as finalists rather than cut the field any further.

The cities must submit their detailed bid files to the IOC by next January. The host city will be selected in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 31 2015.

 The bid race began with six cities, but has been cut in half by the withdrawals of Stockholm, Krakow Poland and Lviv Ukraine.

The future of Oslo's bid remains uncertain. The Norwegian government will decide in the autumn whethter to back the project.

AAP