Hong Kong companies can use their expertise in international markets and experience in developing specialized products and services to actively contribute to planning projects for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The city's Mayor and President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), Liu Qi, told the Chamber delegation that China welcomes the active participation of the Hong Kong business community in terms of construction of Olympic venues and in providing internationalized and specialized services.

A total of 37 competition venues and 59 training sites will be used for the Beijing Olympic Games, 32 of which will be located in Beijing and the other five will be in Qingdao, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao. Of the 32 venues in Beijing, 19 will be new venues (including six temporary venues) and 13 existing ones will be renovated or expanded, he said.

The competition venues are mainly located in four areas. They are the Olympic Green, Wukesong Sports and Culture Center, the "University Area" and the "North Scenic Spot Area." Wukesong Sports and Culture Center will house one permanent stadium and two overlays for the Olympic Games.

Venue construction will be split into three phases: The Pre-preparation Phase, which will conclude in June 2003. The Construction Phase, which will begin in June 2003, with all the projects launched in succession. And the Improvement and Testing Phase will commence in July 2006 and will run until the end of 2007.

The Olympic Venues Construction Coordination Committee has been set up and has sent bids to international tenders for the planning and design of the Olympic Green and Wukesong Sports and Cultural Center.

"According to initial statistics, 177 famous design companies from abroad and home are participating in the bidding. The first step of bidding is proceeding smoothly. The conclusion will come out in July this year and the bid for developers of the projects will be opened in August," he said.

The city is accelerating the construction of transportation and telecommunications works to ensure it will be able to handle the millions of people that are expected to visit the city for the games. Street networks and trunk road systems are being expanded and by 2007 the construction and expansion of 318 kilometers of urban streets will be completed.

Construction of the Beijing Urban Light Rail, Ba-Tong Subway Line, Subway Line No. 5, Subway Line No. 4, Olympic Subway Line, and the fast rail from Dongzhimen to Beijing Capital International Airport is also planned.

Beijing Airport will also be expanded with the construction of another terminal, one runway and 55 standard parking aprons, which will boost its capacity to 48 million passengers per year.

The city plans to invest an additional US$7 billion in ecological environmental development, Mr Liu said. Key projects will include building a second gas pipeline from Shaanxi to Beijing to fuel eight gas power stations that will be built or expanded. Sewage treatment plants at Lugouqiao, Qinghe, and Xiaohongmen, among other locations, will also be built, and about 200 enterprises that are pollution makers will be relocated to reduce pollution to city center.

The total investment of the 37 venues construction for the games is projected to reach US$2.061 billion, among that US$1.849 billion will be used for the 32 venues construction in Beijing as well as for facilities of the Athletes' Village, Media Village, MPC and IBC. For the construction of urban infrastructure, the overall investment will reach US$26.15 billion.

The Beijing Government aims to attract entrepreneurs and investors from home and abroad to participate in the construction as developers, as well as use various investment tools to secure finance.

Another key focus for BOCOG this year is marketing. The committee has jointly stipulated two regulations for the protection of the Olympic symbols, and has conducted numerous discussions with the IOC Marketing Department.