Though the specific operating cost for the 2008 Olympic Games is unavailable, a Beijing
official announced yesterday that it would not exceed that of the
2004 Athens Games, which stood at US$2.6
billion.
The city's statistics bureau deputy director Yu Xiuqin cited
this at a press conference Wednesday when asked: "How much money
has Beijing spent on the Games?" Official figures show that Athens
spent 1.97 billion euros (US$2.6 billion) on the 2004 Games.
About a year ago, the BOCOG executive vice president, Jiang
Xiaoyu, had said that the Games' operating cost had increased from
the original forecast of $1.609 billion to about $2 billion, Xinhua
reports. However, no other specific figures have been available
since.
The operating cost excludes the investment in the city's
infrastructure or construction of the venues.
At least eight new lines are being added to the city's subway
train network and a host of new roads are under construction, and a
new 900,000-square-meter airport terminal is being built in the
northeast of the city.
There will be 31 venues for the Games, 12 of which will be newly
built including the iconic "Bird's Nest" main stadium and the
"Water Cube" aquatic canter.
(China Daily January 25, 2007)