Positive Progress marks Beijing's first year since bid victory for 2008 Olympic Games, said an International Olympic Committee (IOC) press release on Friday.

One year after awarding the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing, a delegation from the IOC has visited the Chinese capital to meet the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), Government Ministers and officials, to track theprogress of preparations.

The 23-strong IOC team, headed by Coordination Commission Chairman Hein Verbruggen, and comprising IOC members plus experts in various fields, began the three-day visit with a venue tour during which BOCOG outlined plans for the development of the "Olympic Green".

The press release said that this is an area of some 1,120 hectares which has been put out to international tender to be developed into not only a showpiece for the Games, but also a symbolic and lasting legacy of China's sporting, economic and social development.

IOC said that two subsequent days of working group meetings covered the areas of sport, construction, environment, finance, communications, marketing, security and transport.

Commenting on the visit, Hein Verbruggen said: "The progress BOCOG has made, in only its first year of operations, is most impressive, as is its understanding of the issues critical to the success of an Olympic Games."

"It is abundantly clear that Beijing is extremely proud to be hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, and that the city and the people of China enthusiastically welcome the opportunities which hosting the world's greatest sporting event brings, " added he.

Verbruggen mentioned that the Coordination Commission has seen a great deal of positive developments, and they look forward to returning in December for the first full Coordination Commission meeting.

BOCOG Executive Vice President Liu Jingmin said: "Our meetings with the IOC have been most productive. We are only at the beginning of our planning process for the Olympic Games in 2008, and we have many years of hard work ahead of us, but already we sense the exciting impact which hosting the Games will have on ourcity and country. "

Close