China's capital, Beijing, is to increase funding for cultural relic protection to 120 million yuan (US$14.46 million) annually till 2008.

Jiang Xiaoyu, vice-president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympics (BOCOG), made the announcement in a speech at a forum Wednesday.

The decision had been made to honor one of the commitments city authorities had made in the bid to win the right to host the Olympic Games in 2008, said Jiang.

Two other distinct features of the Beijing Olympic Games will be the increase in green coverage and afforestation, and increasing modernization of city infrastructure.

Previously, the municipal government spent 100 million yuan (US$12.1 million) on cultural relic protection each year.

Jiang said Beijing had listed 32 cultural programs under construction for the Olympics, involving over 50 cultural relic protection organizations and including the expansion of Liulichang Culture Park. By June this year, construction had begun on 14 of the programs.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2003)