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Beijing Bids for Hosting 2008 Olympic Games

Beijing Bids for Hosting 2008 Olympic Games

On June 20, 2000, Wang Wei, secretary-general of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee (BOBICO), officially presented Beijing’s application report to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. The report answers the 22 questions posed to each applicant by the IOC, and states Beijing's plans and preparations for the event. This marked Beijing’s formal bid for the 2008 Games.

The relevant reports Beijing submitted to IOC note that the city, which is developing fast toward becoming a modern international metropolis, possesses the right conditions to host the Olympic Games. Beijing is the capital of China. As a developing country, China, which has vast stretches of territory, has made remarkable and striking achievements in economic development since it introduced the reform and opening policies in 1978. In 1999, China’s GDP approached US$1 trillion, and Beijing’s total output value reached US$24 billion. Hence, Beijing is economically capable of hosting the Games.

China is the most populous nation in the world. To have the event in a country with one-fifth of the world’s population can better represent the global and extensive participation in the quadrennial event. Beijing people, as well as the entire nation, support Beijing’s bid. A survey made by an independent polling company showed 94.6 percent of Beijing residents support the city’s bid. Beijing has a strong sports facility infrastructure. There are eight stadiums, each capable of accommodating more than 5,000 people and 15 gymnasiums with a capacity of at least 2,000. A group of higher-level sports facilities are under construction for the 21st Universiade in September 2001.

Beijing enjoys a stable society. A comparative study of the major capital cities in the world shows that Beijing is one of the safest cities with the lowest rates of crimes, traffic death toll and fire disasters.

Beijing is a noted historical and cultural city with a history of 3,000 years. It also boasts a history of 800 years as a capital city. As an educational, cultural and scientific research center of China, Beijing possesses some 100 institutions of higher learning, which have a total enrollment of hundreds of thousands of students.

Beijing has the experience in hosting a large international event. Since the beginning of the 1990s, Beijing has successfully hosted a series of international activities of great influence including the Asian Games in 1990, the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, and the annual International High-Tech Week. The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China earned Beijing acclaim both at home and abroad.

Liu Qi, president of BOBICO and mayor of Beijing, said the fact that Beijing is bidding for the Olympic Games for the second time fully shows the 11 million Beijing residents’ assiduous pursuit of the Olympic Games as well as the whole nation’s aspiration and expectation.

With the approval of the State Council, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee was officially founded on September 6, 1999 by the State Sports General Administration, Beijing municipal government and related departments of the State Council. The solid work to gain the right to stage the games proceeded in an orderly way in accordance with relevant IOC rules.

On August 28, 2000, Beijing became one of the five candidates for the 29th Olympiad. The other four are Istanbul, Osaka, Paris and Toronto.

Beijing Mayor Liu Qi said that hosting the Olympic Games would be helpful to promoting the development of the national economy. For Beijing, it would help accelerate the city's environmental conservation and promote local economic development. A city’s infrastructure facilities will no doubt play a significant role in a successful bid. Large-scale infrastructure construction is now in full swing in Beijing to further upgrade the city’s level of modernization.

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