The Beijing Games organizers will adhere to international practices in its treatment of media during the Olympics in August, a senior official said on Friday.

"We will fulfill our commitment to offer an efficient and high standard of service to all media and learn from the successful experience of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games organizers," Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Games organizers (BOCOG), said.

He was speaking to about 1,000 BOCOG staff at a meeting in Beijing.

"BOCOG will apply a zero refusal policy for interview requests, which means that all requests for interviews will be replied to," Liu said.

About 21,600 accredited and 10,000 non-accredited journalists are expected for the Games.

BOCOG will offer services for accredited media and the 2008 Beijing International Media Center (BIMC) will receive the non-accredited journalists.

All the facilities of the Main Press Center (MPC) and the International Broadcast Center (IBC) will be ready by the end of this month, Sha Wanquan, vice-director of the MPC and IBC operation team, said.

The MPC and IBC, with about 370 staff and 1,200 volunteers, will open to accredited media on July 8.

The BIMC has received nearly 5,000 media applications, officials have said. During the Games, it is expected to hold more than two press conferences a day and arrange group visits for in-depth interviews on Beijing and the Games.

(China Daily June 21, 2008)