Olympics a new engine driving city construction

"Building the Olympic venue has become a new engine for accelerating city construction in Qingdao," Zhang Jun, deputy director of Qingdao Municipal Construction Committee, told China Daily. "And it is sure to leave behind permanent cultural heritage for the city."

By the end of March the Olympic Sailing Center and its supporting infrastructure like the Olympic Village will be finished and ready for use, noted Zhang.

The well-designed competition venue has met all requirements for presenting a world-class sailing event after successfully hosting test events in 2006 and 2007.

Both officials from International Sailing Federation and athletes and coaches from home and abroad gave high praise to the center, ranking it as first-rate with the most advanced equipment in the world.

"Qingdao invested 3.2 billion yuan in the Olympic Sailing Center without using a penny from the local government. All the projects were smoothly completed through funding from non-government sources," said Sun Lijie, deputy executive chairperson and secretary-general of the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Committee.

The Qingdao municipal government now is planning beyond the Games with designs to turn the Sailing Center and its infrastructure into a holiday resort combining tourism, commerce and leisure.

Zhang noted that building of the Olympic Sailing Center has greatly accelerated city construction in Qingdao through investment that reached 18 billion yuan during China's 10th Five Year-Plan period (2001-05), a 134 percent increase over the previous five-year plan period.

As well, home construction in Qingdao has soared, bringing real benefits to city residents. The per capita housing ratio is now 28 sq m, with 92 percent of families owning their own apartments.

As the 141-day countdown to the opening ceremony of the Games arrived, the Qingdao municipal government was busy with road construction, greening projects and residential maintenance in areas surrounding the sailing center to ensure a quality environment for the competition in this coming summer.

With the aim of constructing a harmonious, environmentally friendly and favorable city for residents, the Qingdao municipal government has now begun a second round of development planning to accelerate construction of its airport, harbor and wharf to meet international standards.

During China's 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), the city will avail itself of the opportunities brought by the Olympics to propel further housing construction.

Renovation of old residential areas and villages within the city is planned, as is a range of housing that meets the needs of various income levels.

A total of 151.4 billion yuan will be invested in the Qingdao real estate sector between 2006 to 2010, with 107.9 billion yuan earmarked for 61.82 million sq m of new housing. About 272,950 additional low-rent units will cover a total of 22.1 million sq m.

Preparation for the Olympic sailing competition has brought great changes to the city and attracted increasing numbers of foreigners to settle there and invest. The number of Korean expatriates in Qingdao has surpassed 100,000.

(China Daily 03/20/2008 page24)