A consortium led by the China International Trust and Investment
Corp (CITIC) won an ownership tender on Saturday for the National
Stadium, the main stadium for the
Beijing 2008
Olympic Games.
The consortium will raise the funding for 42 per cent of the
stadium's 3.5 billion-yuan (US$423 million) cost.
The remaining 58 per cent, funded by the Beijing municipal
government, has been entrusted to the Beijing State-owned Assets
Management Co as the city government's representative.
The CITIC consortium comprises the CITIC Group, the Beijing
Urban Construction Group, the Golden State Holding Group of the
United States, and the CITIC Group affiliate Guoan Elstrong.
The signing ceremony for the deal was held on Saturday in
Beijing. It is the first ownership tender for a venue for the 2008
Games.
Bidding for the National Stadium lasted for nine months and was
overseen by the Supervisory Committee for the XXIX Olympiad to
ensure openness and fair play.
The CITIC consortium and the Beijing State-owned Assets
Management Co will jointly set up a company to work on the stadium
project.
The project company will acquire a 30-year right to operate the
National Stadium after the 2008 Games.
Besides financing part of the stadium, the CITIC consortium is
also responsible for the construction and operation of the
project.
Liu Jingmin, vice-mayor of Beijing and vice-chairman of the
Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad,
told Saturday's signing ceremony: "This is good progress in the
reform of the investment and financing system in Beijing."
The Beijing municipal government has decided to make the
financing of the Games market-oriented through ownership tenders in
an attempt to give full play to investment and the post-Games
utilization of the facilities, according to sources with the
Beijing Development Planning Commission, which organized the
bidding.
Bidding is under way for another seven Olympic venues and
facilities, including the Olympic Village, the National Swimming
Center and the Wukesong Cultural and Sports Center. The tenders
will be allocated by October, Liu Zhi, the commission's deputy
director, told China Daily.
(China Daily August 11, 2003)
