The city will host boating events during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

At a two-day investment promotion fair that opened on Monday in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, Qingdao listed 372 projects which are estimated to cost US$8.7 billion.

These projects include 11 Olympic facilities, such as an Olympic sporting center on the water, the Olympic Games Village, a dock capable of handling overseas ships of 10,000 dead weight tonnage, an international boating club, an international conference center, an international tourism and holiday hotel and an Olympic square, according to Deputy Mayor Liu Jianhua.

He added that in the first day of the fair, Qingdao signed cooperation agreements with overseas businessmen for 14 projects involving a total investment of US$590 million.

(People's Daily April 30, 2002)