Fuente: © Beijing 2008
http://en.beijing-2008.org/

BEIJING 2008:Beijing honors commitment of successful Olympic Games

/noticias.info/ Beijing will honor its Olympic commitment to the international community made seven years ago, making sure everything is ready as the Games approach, BOCOG president and Beijing's CPC chief Liu Qi stated in an interview with the People's Daily recently.

Liu Qi, then mayor of Beijing, made a presentation at the 112th IOC plenary session as Beijing was named the host city of the 29th Summer Olympic Games. He reiterated the three concepts for the Beijing Olympic Games -- Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics.

He attributed the successful preparations to the strong leadership of the CPC and the State Council, support from the Chinese people both at home and abroad, and help from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the international community. "Our objective is to spread the Olympic spirit among people, especially among the 400 million young people in China," he said.

To fulfill the Green Olympics concept, Liu said, Beijing has focused on controlling air pollution and promoting landscape greening.

"For example, we had the steel giant Shougang Group relocate most operations to outside Beijing and reduce steel output in its Beijing plants. We also shut down the Beijing Coking Factory and a chemical plant of Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Group. Air quality has been continuously improving for 9 years thanks to environmental protection projects in 14 phases plus 200 countermeasures that have been fulfilled. More than 64 percent of the days in 2007 were of Grade II or better air quality," Liu pointed out.

He also emphasized Beijing's afforested land, which has increased significantly. "We have so far fulfilled all the 7 objectives of a 'Green Olympics.'"

Engineers and technicians, Liu said, have made numerous innovations in the construction of Olympic venues such as the National Stadium and the National Aquatic Center, which is a manifestation of a "High-tech Olympics."

"To succeed in the People's Olympics, we are people-oriented in designing and building venues, laying security facilities and arranging media services. We have also advocated civilized behavior among citizens and organized Olympic-related cultural activities in schools. A record number of more than 3 million people applied for volunteer services for the Games which shows the wide spread of the Olympic spirit in China today.

"Letting the people share the fruit of the Games is one of our objectives. To improve public traffic efficiency, for example, we have opened 4 new metro lines to extend the total length of track to 200 kilometers. Moreover, we keep the prices of public transport low," Liu said.

Liu also referred to the renovation of more than 600 old alleyways, 400 old residential areas and 100-plus main streets in Beijing which have improved living conditions for local residents, especially those low-income families who lived in old alleyways or hutongs.

"We will do our utmost to accomplish every detail of the preparations at this critical stage to make sure the 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are a great success." notas_de_prensa_archivo