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All Members of IOC Evaluation Commission Arrive in Beijing
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation commission, whose 17 members all arrived in Beijing by Tuesday morning, will open Wednesday, February 21, their inspection tour of Beijing, one of the five candidate cities for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Those who arrived this morning included evaluation commission chairman Hein Verbruggen of the Netherland, vice-chairman Gilbert Felli of Switzerland and athlete representative Sergei Bubka of Ukraine.
Liu Qi, Beijing Mayor and President of Beijing 2008 Olympics Bidding Committee, He Zhenliang, IOC executive, and Lu Shengrong, IOC member, were at the airport to show their warm welcome.
On behalf of the commission, Verbruggen showed his gratitude with a sense of humor to Beijing bidding officials who came to the airport before the day broke.
"I was overwhelmed by your warm reception. Next time I will make sure we won't come so early six o'clock in the morning," said Verbruggen.
Liu Qi briefed the guests on the development of the capital airport from which needs about twenty minutes to get to the Beijing Hotel, where the evaluation commission will stay during their four-day inspection.
"Last year the airport boasted a total of 22 million passengers in taking-off and landing, and it has planned to reach a target of 38 million every year,"said Liu. "It has 700 flights per day and the runways will increase from two to four."
Verbruggen, who was at Beijing last October for competition, said he was amazed by how far the Chinese capital city has developed.
"For those who have not been here yet, they cannot see the difference. But I was here last October and was absolutely flabbergasted by an enormous amount of construction that has been taking place during the last few years," said the chairman.
In meeting those ten members who arrived yesterday, Liu Jingmin, Vice President of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee and Vice Mayor of Beijing, said that Beijing has been ready for the commission's inspection and hoped that commission members could experience Beijing's change during their stay.
Beijing, along with Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul, were shortlisted as the five official candidate cities for the 2008 Games. Beijing is the first city the IOC inspects.
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