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What Legacy Will the Beijing Olympics Leave to the World ?
According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation report, both Paris and Toronto offered "excellent bids" for the Olympics, so why did Beijing gain a clear lead over its close rivals in the IOC's July 13 voting?
A bid official from Toronto admitted that in addition to the IOC members' trust in Beijing's capability to host the 2008 Games, they maintained that no one can predict what exactly the fast- changing capital of China will be like in seven years from now.
And it is this uncertainty that made people extremely excited about the potential "high reward" of a Beijing Olympics, he said.
This potential high reward will be the "unique legacy" that the Beijing Games will leave to the world.
Beijing Mayor Liu Qi, also president of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Bid Committee, said that "the IOC has already left a valuable legacy to sports by choosing the country with the largest population in the world to host the Olympics."
"Hosting the Games will help raise the living standard of the Chinese people and speed up China's reform, which will also leave an important legacy to China," Liu said.
Economists predict that "the Olympic Economy" therefrom will promote the fast growth of several regions and industries, create large numbers of job opportunities and become a new growth area of the Chinese economy.
The National Bureau of Statistics said that in the ensuing seven years, the Olympics will push forward China's gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points every year.
"The country's vigorous economy will also promote the development of the global economy," China's influential economist Li Yining said.
Analysts noted that the Beijing Games not only means large numbers of business opportunities both for China and the rest of the world, but will also help the world see the beginning of China 's market economy structure in full swing. Public bidding and foreign expertise will be utilized in the same way as in other market economies, government officials promised.
Vice-president of the IOC Kevan Gosper said that the world is provided with this unique opportunity to help China open up, which is good for both China and the world.
In the next five years, Beijing will invest 180 billion yuan into 142 urban infrastructure projects, 45 billion yuan of which will go to environmental protection, making the sky bluer, the water cleaner and the land greener.
Experts pointed out that the "Green Olympics" impact will not be confined only to the city of Beijing, but will call for the whole country's emphasis on environmental protection and the balance of nature, in a bid to contribute to the improvement of the world environment.
Beijing will invest 30 billion yuan in information services, laying a solid foundation for the "Digital Beijing Project" and the "High-tech Olympics".
Another 90 billion yuan will be invested in the construction of subways, light railways, motorways, and airports, in a move to build up a fast-speed traffic network. Moreover, 15 billion yuan will be spent on water, electricity, gas and heating facilities municipal sources said.
The third goal is the "People's Olympics."
Yang Lan, a Chinese Olympic bid presenter, cited the praise from Mr Toynbee, a well-known British historian, for the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907) when all the world's cultures coexisted peacefully with China.
"The Beijing Games will help the Chinese culture build new harmony with the other cultures of the world," she said.
Foreign media noted that Beijing's success in the bid marks the full membership of China into the group of modernized countries.
Together with the anticipated entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the status of the Olympic host means the achievements of Chinese leaders' diplomacy, and China is going to play an increasingly important role in the world arena, they predicted.
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