Olympic venue construction progressing smoothly:official
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-09-20 15:22

Beijing Olympic organizers said on Tuesday that venue construction for the 2008 Games is progressing smoothly.

An aerial view of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games venues in this undated file photo. Games organizers said on Tuseday that venue construction for the Games is under way smoothly. [photocome]

"Construction work is running on schedule," Jin Yan, director of Beijing 2008 Project Construction Headquarter Office, told a news briefing.

A total of 37 competition venues are needed for the 2008 Olympics with 31 planned in Beijing. Of the 11 venues to be built from scratch in the Chinese capital, ten are already under construction, while the last one, the gymnasium of the Beijing University of Science and Technology, is due to be built next month.

Beijing has promised to get all Olympic venues ready by the end of 2007 so that test events can be held before the start of the Games.

Energy-saving technologies and environmental-friendly materials are being used in these Olympic projects in line with the concepts of "Green Olympics" and "High-tech Olympics", said Jin.

When asked about the total investment in Olympic projects, Jin said he cannot tell for sure about the total sum "because we are calculating the budget for some venues and related facilities".

According to Jin, however, the National Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics, costs 3.13 billion yuan (about 386 million US dollars), and the National Swimming Center, known as the "Water Cube", 1.02 billion yuan (125 million US dollars).