Hot off the Press:

1. Beijing 2008 Olympic Broadcasting Deal Signed
2. Olympics Lures Global Investors

Beijing 2008 Olympic Broadcasting Deal Signed
(Source: http://www.beijing-olympic.org.cn/)

A framework agreement for the establishment of the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (BOB) was signed on August 31, 2003, in Beijing by Hein Verbruggen, Chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (COCOM) and Chairman of the Olympic Broadcasting Services S.A.(OBS), and Liu Jingmin, Executive Vice President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad(BOCOG).

The BOB will be jointly established by BOCOG and OBS, a subsidiary of the IOC. The new establishment will be in charge of producing the International Television and Radio Signals (ITVR signals) for the Olympic Games, currently the most widely covered sports event in the world, with the highest TV viewing rate. The BOB will also build and operate the International Broadcasting Center and necessary facilities and equipment at the other venues, and provide other relevant broadcasting services.

BOCOG Vice President Jiang Xiaoyu and Mr. Verbruggen delivered speeches at the signing ceremony, which was also witnessed by Zhang Haitao, Vice Minister of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, IOC Marketing Commission Chairman Gerhard Heiberg, Richard Kevan Gosper, Vice-President of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, and the IOC's Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli. IOC President Jacques Rogge, BOCOG President LiuQi, BOCOG Executive President Yuan Weimin, who is also Minister of the State General Administrator of Sport and President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, and BOCOG Executive President Wang Qishan, Beijing's acting mayor, were also present at the ceremony, which was presided by Wang Wei, BOCOG Vice President and Secretary General. The COCOM and BOCOG have agreed to organize their third meeting during November 2004 in Beijing.

Olympics Lures Global Investors
(Source: China Daily 9/12/03)

Beijing Vice Mayor and Executive Vice President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), Liu Jingmin, warmly welcomed Chinese and foreign enterprises at the sixth China Beijing International High-Tech Expo to promote Olympic construction projects and the marketing of Olympic products.

Twenty-five infrastructure projects involving a combined investment of USD 4.87 billion were presented including Beijing's fourth subway line, the second phase of the city's expressway to Chengde, the Beiyuan sewage treatment plant, and energy and water supply centers for the Tongzhou Industrial Development Zone.

Also, at the promotional event, Mr. Hou Xinyi, Vice Director of BOCOG's Technology Department, disclosed that 285 Olympic-related technology projects have already begun. Apart from direct investment, the pojects can raise funds by making use of land-use rights, intellectual property rights or build-operate-transfer (BOT) management models. The France-based group Veolia Environment, one of the world's top three water companies, signed a contract with the Beijing Mentougou Sewage Treatment Plant on the promotion of key projects and the urban development of Beijing last Wednesday (9/10/03). Veolia now has the right to operate the plant for 20 years.