Beijing started on Tuesday to build the Wukesong Gymnasium that will host basketball competition during the 2008 Olympic Games.

The Wukesong Gymnasium, a key facility of the Wukesong Culture and Sports Center, became the fifth new competition venue to be built in the capital city for the 2008 Olympics, following the National Stadium, the National Swimming Center, the Beijing Shooting Range and the Laoshan Velodrome.

Other new Olympic venues in Tianjin and Qingdao are also under construction, while construction on the Qinhuangdao Stadium, which will host football competition during the 2008 Olympics, was completed last November and already put into use.

The Wukesong Gymnasium, located in the western part of Beijing, covers a floor area of 63,000 square meters and has a 18,000-seat capacity. It is scheduled to complete by the end of 2007.

The 2008 Olympic Games need a total of 36 competition venues, of which 31 are planned in Beijing. Among them, 11 are to be newly built, 12 are to be renovated, while the rest are temporary facilities.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) said all other competition venues for the 2008 Games will get started this year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2005)