Business leaders, industry experts and government officials flocked to Beijing Tuesday, brought together by two words: "Green Olympics."

More than 30 local and foreign enterprises met to discuss clean technology, renewable energies, recyclable materials and the huge market potential the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will create.

Companies attending the event include BASF, NatureWorks, Unitika, Mitsubishi Chemical and Mitsui Chemical.

Co-organized by the Science and Technology Committee for the 29th Olympic Games and the 2008 Project Office, the Exhibition on Green Materials & Green Olympics is the first of its kind in China.

"The exhibition is a platform for exchange between green materials researchers and merchants working on projects for the Games," said Fan Boyuan, deputy mayor of Beijing.

Bidding for the Games' major projects has been completed, and it is now time to purchase materials, facilities and technology, Fan added.

The main Olympics buildings, temporary facilities, sites and affiliated services are all required to use green materials. This is one of Beijing's commitments to the Games, he added.

"We are all very excited about the use of green materials.... It is our hope that green materials and processes will be adopted as fully as possible at the coming Games," said Peter Clydesdale, commercial director of Cargill Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd.

Dirk Starke, a marketing and sales manager from Germany-based BASF, a chemical company, said that BASF is working with its business partner in China, Tian'an Biologics, to promote biodegradable polymers.

(China Daily June 15, 2005)