For the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Beijing expects to spend almost $40 billion on new stadiums, subways and a new airport terminal. That's more than three times Athens' estimated $12 billion infrastructure tab for its 2004 Olympics.

Shanghai, meanwhile, is expected to spend about $41 billion to prepare for the 2010 World Expo, while Guangzhou plans to spend about $27 billion for the 2010 Asian Games.

With China expecting to spend at least $400 billion overall through 2010 on public-works projects, global companies are aiming to tap an Olympics-related building boom to bolster business in the country of 1.3 billion people.

General Electric Co., Siemens AG and United Technologies Corp. are just some of the companies that view the Olympics as a great chance to forge new relationships with major Chinese business and government figures.

GE, for example, is targeting about $1 billion in Olympics-related contracts to provide everything from lighting and security at stadiums to electrical equipment at subway stations and treatment systems at waste-water facilities. But non-Chinese companies face hurdles: Many Olympic-related projects such as sports stadiums are being built by private and state-owned enterprises, making the bidding process nearly as competitive as the Games themselves.