Beijing Olympics to benefit all
By Zhang Mao (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-19 15:30

On July 13, 2001, Beijing drew the attention of the world as the capital of China won the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

This year, the city is expected to draw the attention of the international business community with the opening of the Market Promotion Conference on the Olympic Economy, to be held from April 18 to 19.

The conference will introduce to investors from home and abroad a series of projects related to urban construction, environmental protection, high-tech and manufacturing industries, tourism, culture, sports and logistics.

From this year on, the construction of the Olympic venues and related facilities will begin on a large scale, signifying a new stage for the preparation for the Games.

Investors at home and abroad are closely watching the preparation work, because of the great business opportunities the Olympic Games will offer.

Beijing is devoted to implementing an Olympic economy strategy, because the event is also a historical chance for the city to speed up its development.

Acceleration

The Olympic Games is expected to become an accelerator for Beijing's development by upgrading the city's comprehensive competitiveness and speeding up its globalization and modernization.

Beijing will use this opportunity to step up the restructuring of its economy.

Through implementation of the Olympic economy strategy, Beijing expects to maintain a balanced development between the urban and rural areas.

It plans to guide investors to channel more investment into the development of suburban counties and districts, and expects to use this opportunity to adjust its industrial structure.

Realizing the great demand generated by the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing is also planning to promote the development of the service industry.

Further, the event is a good opportunity for local enterprises to win more market recognition for their products. Hence, they are urged to foster more brand-name products.

According to the principle of hosting a "Green, Scientific and Human-Oriented Olympic Games," Beijing will place more emphasis on environmental protection and scientific progress to offer a better environment for its residents and visitors.

The city regards environmental protection and rational utilization of resources as key to its sustainable development.

It will make greater efforts in energy and water conservation, pollution control and improving urban environment.

The "Scientific Olympics" requires Beijing to upgrade its comprehensive competitiveness through technical and management innovation.

The city will actively promote the use of high technology in its industries, construction and urban management.

In addition, the "Human-Oriented Olympics" requires the city to strengthen the construction of infrastructure facilities and service capacities, making it a better place for people to live.

As well, the protection of the many historical and cultural heritage sites is a priority in the capital.

The Olympic Games will be a good platform to promote Beijing's image as both an international metropolis and an ancient city with oriental attractions.

Opportunities for all

Beijing's Olympic event will offer ample business opportunities to the city, the country and the whole world.

The implementation of the Olympic economy strategy will generate greater demand in investment, products and services.

It is expected that Beijing's total investment in the next four years will reach 1.5 trillion yuan (US$180 billion), including 280 billion yuan (US$33.8 billion) used in Olympic-related projects.

The investment will be channeled in fields such as the construction, operation and maintenance of Olympic venues and related facilities; improvement of urban facilities and service capacities; construction of satellite cities and rural townships; and construction of key industrial bases and industrial parks.

The Games are expected to drive the rapid growth of the consumer market, especially the cultural, sports, transportation, telecommunications, real estate and automobile sectors.

It is predicted that the total amount of consumer expenditure will reach 1.5 trillion yuan (US$180 billion) in the next four years, and the Games will directly generate a consumer demand worth 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion).

The forthcoming event has already stimulated market demand. Statistics show that the city's total retail volume of consumer goods reached 191.7 billion yuan (US$23.2 billion) last year, increasing by 14.5 per cent over 2002 - the highest growth rate in recent years.

The Olympic Games will also stimulate market demand for building materials and related equipment for large-scale urban construction.

In addition, demands for products for environmental protection, telecommunications and transportation as well as services like tourism, healthcare, financing, logistics, retailing, catering and education are expected to grow dramatically.

Beijing is welcoming businesses from home and abroad to share in this huge opportunity.

The city encourages more private and foreign investors to participate in its Olympic economy strategy.

It will further open the urban infrastructure construction and operation market to domestic and overseas investors. And the public service market will be open to investors this year.

The city's authorities will strengthen their efforts in reforming investment and fund-raising mechanisms, and improving market access and regulation mechanisms to offer a fair and open environment for domestic and overseas investors.