Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission, is meeting with Beijing Mayor Liu Qi and Yuan Weimin, executive president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG), to discuss preparations for the 2008 Summer Games.
During the three-day meeting BOCOG will discuss infrastructure plans including the expansion of Beijing’s subway system and the building of the Olympic Village and a new sports complex.
The city has earmarked up to $23 billion in infrastructure projects from now until 2008, including ambitious environmental protection projects, new subway lines and a light rail system.
BOCOG plans to spend billions of dollars on the Games, including building 19 of the 32 planned Olympic venues and a $488 million “Olympic Green” housing the Athletes Village and the main stadium. The other 13 venues will be renovated ahead of the event.
The Regulations on the Protection of the Olympic Symbols which came into effect on April 1 defines the Olympic Symbols and the rights of its owners, the responsibility of law enforcement departments, and the penalties for violating those rights.
Since the IOC Evaluation Commission’s visit, Beijing has built 190 kilometres of new roads, of which 100 kilometres are expressways. The Fifth and Sixth Ring Road is now being constructed, and other light way or subway programs are to be completed within the next two years or at the end of conceptual designing.
Also, Beijing has pledged to employ the most advanced technology and security is listed as one of the key fields in which high-tech is to develop.
As for a “Green Olympics”, new building materials that make the buildings more environmentally friendly will be used as well as solar energy used to supply 80-90 per cent of the road lighting around the Olympic venues. Solar heat-collecting devices will heat about 90 per cent of the bath water in the Olympic Village.
Beijing has also upgraded motor vehicle emission standards, transformed coal-burning boilers, and relocated factories that have heavy pollution discharges.
Beijing plans to develop new portable devices to detect explosive and dangerous articles, an effective fire control system, a safety appraisal system and emergency handling plan, commanding and supporting systems dealing with emergencies related to dangerous chemicals, and technologies for food safety control.
Meanwhile, the Chinese asked the IOC’s Coordination Commission to consider including Wishu in the 2008 Olympic Program.
Li told the Coordination Commission that he firmly believes “Wushu, a sport that has strong appeal both in the East and West, will add more glamour to the Olympic Games”.
BOCOG Sports Department deputy director Zhang Qiuping said that the Chinese want to “leave a rich legacy” of this oriental sport to the Olympic Movement.
Zhang said, “we strongly believe that the integration of Wushu into the Olympic program will not only promote a blending of cultures, but also help bring an oriental philosophical essence into the Olympic Movement”.
Liu said that the BOCOG will focus their work on four aspects for the remainder of this year and the next year; producing an overall plan for the Olympic Green and Wukesong Center, the formulation of a marketing plan and putting it into operation, the bidding process of the logo and mascots of the 2008 Games, and a detailed overall plan for the BOCOG with the key tasks identified for each preparation phase.
