Preparations for the 2008 Beijing Games are on track, said
visiting Luxembourg's Grand Duke Duc Henri, also a member of the
International Olympic Committee(IOC), on Monday.
Grand Duke Henri made the remarks on a tour of the Beijing
Olympic venue construction sites, the national stadium known as the
"bird's nest" and the National Aquatic Center called the "water
cube", which are due to be completed in 2007.
"I am very confident in China's ability to pull off a great
games," said Grand Duke Henri, adding that the amazing projects are
taking shape and the IOC believe there is enough time for Beijing
to finish the preparations.
A total of 31 sites across Beijing will see Olympic action in
2008 - 11 of them are new and eight others are temporary
facilities. Construction on all the new venues and the renovation
of nine of 11 existing sites have started and are due to be
completed by the end of 2007, according to the Beijing Organizing
Committee for the Olympic Games(BOCOG).
Grand Duke Henri believes that the traffic congestion in Beijing
will not be a problem considering government plans to build roads
for new metro lines.
After the tour, Grand Duke Duc Henri also met with the BOCOG
President Liu Qi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of
the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Liu extended
the wish to cooperate with Luxembourg for a well-organized Olympic
Games.
Grand Duke Duc Henri started his week-long state visit to China
on September 3 at the invitation of Chinese president Hu
Jintao.
Besides Beijing, Grand Duke Henri will also visit China's
eastern province of Shandong and the country's economic powerhouse
Shanghai.
(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2006)