All competition venues for 2008 Beijing Olympics will be within a 30-minute drive of the Olympic Village, said a Chinese official in Berlin when briefing Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) about preparation for the event.

The Beijing Olympics will have 36 competition venues, said Vice President Yang Shu'an of Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

Yang told the delegates that BOCOG has completed the transportation strategic plan, established transport coordination and command mechanism, and begun building a transportation model for the games.

Thirteen of the venues can even be reached in 20 minutes, he said.

At the end of 2003, construction of seven venues for the games started and in 2005, work will begin on the remaining seven new venues while renovation of existing venues will start in 2006.

Other points Yang mentioned include:

-- A security coordination group for security has been set up;

-- Eighty-eight hotels, including 33 five-stars, have signed up, providing 22,962 hotel rooms and 31 villas;

-- Twenty dedicated hospitals have been designated for medical services;

-- Twenty-two international sports federations have visited Beijing.

The ASOIF meeting is part of the annual international sports convention, which began here on Saturday.

It also brings representatives from the General Association of International Sports Federations, the Association of the International Olympic Winter Sports Federations, as well as the International Olympic Committee Executive Board..

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2005)