2008 Olympic Games, will indeed "leave China and the world with a unique precious legacy," as was stated in the Evaluation Report of the IOC. This can be interpreted primarily in four aspects. Firstly, for the first time the Olympics will be held in a country with a population of 1.3 billion, which means the Olympic spirit will be disseminated to the most people. Secondly, the Olympics being held in a developing country like China will greatly boost its national economy. Thirdly, with sports, culture and environmental protection being the three themes of the current Olympics, Beijing will greatly promote the integration of sports and culture, raise the consciousness of environmental protection and improve the environment through hosting the Olympic Games. Finally, with Beijing hosting the Olympic Games, China will open wider to the rest of the world and better integrate with world economy.

Mayor Liu also noted that over the past few years, Beijing has maintained a relatively high rate growth in its urban development and economic construction. Now that Beijing has won its Olympic bid, the process will undoubtedly be accelerated. Liu said that in recent years, as the economy continuously grows, the financial revenue of the municipal government increases at an annual rate of 20 percent, which provides sufficient financial capacity for hosting the Olympic Games. In return, through preparing and hosting the Games, Beijing will open wider to the outside world and attract more foreign investment and Sino-foreign economic cooperative projects.

Tang Long, news spokesperson of the Beijing municipal government, said Beijing mapped out the new development strategies at the beginning of the century. It has been decided to put a record 180 billion yuan in the construction of urban infrastructure in the next five years. Specifically, the money will be used in the construction of 142 projects in an attempt to narrow the gap between Beijing and other international metropolises. Of it, 90 billion yuan will be used to build subways, light rails, expressways and airports to form an efficient transportation network; 45 billion yuan will be used to improve the environment; 30 billion will be used in IT construction to lay a foundation for "digital Beijing" and initially realize e-administration, e-commerce, IT community and remote education. The remaining 15 billion yuan will be used for the construction and upgrading of facilities, including the supply of water, power, gas and heating.

By 2008, Beijing will have completed the 93-km Fifth Ring Road, the 35-km high-speed interconnection road and the 105-km trunk roads. Rail lines will increase to seven, with the total mileage reaching 190 km. The public transit system will have 650 operating lines, with the annual passenger handling volume reaching 4.5 billion people. In addition, 222 long-distance bus lines will lead to the city's outskirts. A public transit network, centering on the city proper and radiating to its fringe as well as various residential districts, will be formed. In the meantime, traffic management will make full use of the global satellite positioning system to control and regulate traffic volume in a scientific and accurate manner, thus significantly reducing the occurrence of traffic jams.

Beijing's Capital International Airport now has two runways, two terminal buildings and 75 aircraft waiting bays. Before 2008, the air- port will undergo large-scale expansion, adding one runway, an additional terminal building and 55 standard aircraft waiting bays, so its annual passenger handling capacity will reach 48 million people. The frequent arrival and departure of travelers will also benefit Nanyuan Airport in suburban Beijing and Binhai Airport in Tianjin.

Beijing will also accelerate its construction of a digital cable TV network and broadband transmission system. New submarine fiber optic is being laid and a satellite ground station is under construction. A transportable satellite system will also be adopted, while a digital broadcasting system covering the entire country will be completed.

Liu reiterated that in the next few years, Beijing will try its best to build a high-standard ecological system, a high-efficiency green industrial system and a high-level forest and green land resource system. In doing so, Beijing will become a modern international metropolis boasting of fresh air, a beautiful environment and sound ecology to attain the goal of "green Olympics."