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Beijing Continues Bidding Effort for 2008 Olympic Games
Having spent months promoting the Beijing Olympic effort at home, the city's 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee will begin in coming weeks an international tour to show the world how much the Chinese capital wants to host the event, according to China Daily, the English-language newspaper.
With the approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Beijing bid officials are expected to attend several regional and international activities including Asian Olympic Committee Council in Japan, the annual session of the International Sports Press Association in Canada and the East Asian Games in Japan in the coming month.
Among them, a stop in Lausanne, Switzerland, in mid-May to listen to a report from the IOC Evaluation Commission's assessment of each candidate city is the most critical.
Beijing is competing for the 2008 Olympics with four other cities, Paris, Osaka, Toronto and Istanbul.
The commission carried out inspection tours earlier this year, including a four-day stop in Beijing in February, to evaluate city's capability to host the event.
Beijing bid committee vice-president Jiang Xiaoyu said he believed the assessment report based on those visits would have a major effect on the July 13 decision by the IOC at a meeting in Moscow, but the IOC members' individual impressions will be more important.
"The members will vote for the host depending on their impressions on the candidate cities," Jiang said.
Efforts will continue to promote the bid domestically as well, with May's activities following in the bid committee's theme of a "high-tech" Olympics.
Scientific exhibitions and exchanges will take place, especially during the China (Beijing) International High-Tech Industries Week to be held in the city from May 10-15.
Jiang said if Beijing hosts the Games, it will be broadcast live internationally through Internet in addition to TV broadcasts.
A concert, "New Beijing, Great Olympics," is planned tonight at Beijing Workers' Stadium to kick off the month's bid theme efforts.
A group of celebrated singing sensations and superstars from Hong Kong and Macao and Taiwan are slated to participate.
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