IOC Shortlists Evaluation Group to Visit BeijingLiu Jingmin, vice major of Beijing Municipal Government and vice president of Beijing 2008 Olympic Bidding Committee, said that a 16-member IOC Shortlists Evaluation Group will come on a visit to Beijing from February 20-25, 2001.Although Beijing has many difficulties to deal with and strong opponents it has to face, yet it has an overall fine situation presented, Liu said after the 2008 Olympic Shortlists Information Meeting called by IOC. "Chinese Olympians have achieved remarkable success in Sydney Olympics, it will be of great help to our 2008 bid. We will act in a down-to-earth manner and do all possible work to make good success of Beijing's 2008 bid," Liu Further noted. Liu also said, since IOC has announced its requirements for shortlists, Beijing will strictly do a good job of its bid. IOC will take its first vote on July 13, 2001 to decide the host of 2008 Olympics. The order of the five shortlists to introduce themselves is Osaka, Paris, Toronto, Beijing and Istanbul. All shortlists must hand in reports to represent their formal bid to IOC before January 17,2001. According to planned schedule by IOC, the 16-member Shortlists Evaluation Group will visit Beijing February 20-25, Osaka February 26 to March 1, Toronto March 7-12, Istanbul March 20- 25, and Paris March 26 to April 1, 2001. Through these visits they will make an overall assessment of the shortlists' bids for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. |
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