BEIJING -- The 2008 Beijing International Media Center (BIMC) had received 603 applications by Tuesday from overseas journalists who planned to cover the Olympic Games but had no accreditation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The BIMC, designed to provide Olympics-related news, information and reception services to all non-accredited journalists, began taking applications on April 25 and will continue to do so until May 20.

"The website (www.2008 bimc.cn) has received 190,000 hits," said a BIMC official. "The applicants were from 51 countries and regions, most of them from Japan, the United States and Australia."

Those applicants include journalists from the news agencies Reuters and Agence France-Presse, the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) and two US-based networks, CBS and ABC.

The BIMC, located 2 kilometers from the National Stadium ("Bird's  Nest"), will start operations for domestic and overseas journalists on July 8.

The center will provide services covering registration, information, consultation, entertainment, transportation and accommodation.

The Main Press Center, also 2 km from the BIMC, will host 21,600 accredited journalists during the Olympics and Paralympics.