Two years before the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, preparations remain well on track with pollution and traffic problems remaining the only prominent lingering concerns.

In China's first hosting of an Olympics, the opening ceremony has been scheduled for 8pm on August 8, 2008 - reflecting the number eight's status as the most auspicious number in the Middle Kingdom's long history.

"The preparations for the Games are going well and are on schedule," Sun Weide, a spokesman for Beijing's Olympic organisers BOCOG, told AFP.

"Construction of the 15 new competition venues has started and the construction of the Olympic Village and other facilities are progressing smoothly."

Renovations at all 22 existing venues and construction of 76 training venues will have started this year, with all facilities to be up and running by the end of 2007, he said.

Olympic Games marketing has also been very successful with BOCOG bringing in 11 partners, nine sponsors and six suppliers, in addition to the 11 main sponsors of the Olympic movement, he said.

"The (sponsorship) revenue from the Games is expected to exceed the target," Sun said.

While International Olympic Committee chiefs have also repeatedly expressed full confidence in the preparations for the Games, pollution and traffic remain concerns.

Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world and efforts to improve the situation over recent years have appeared to make little progress amid a dramatic increase of cars on the city's roads.

State press reported in May that Beijing's efforts to reduce air pollution by the Olympics were faltering, with the city going backwards in its bid to achieve 238 "blue sky days" this year.

There are more than 2.6 million motor vehicles in Beijing and the number is increasing by more than 1,000 a day, the city's environmental bureau said earlier this year.

"Efforts are underway to improve the long-term traffic and environmental qualities of the city," Sun said.

"Beijing is getting ready to be a great host city."

BOCOG officials have not ruled out ordering most cars off the roads for the two weeks that the world will be watching the city.

Another potential concern has been corruption, which the government has publicly conceded plagues all levels of society in China.

One of the city's vice mayors who is in charge of construction for the Games, Liu Zhihua, was sacked in June following government allegations of corruption. Government officials have since repeatedly stated the Games will be corruption free.

In the sports realm, Chinese athletes are favoured to win the total medal and gold medal counts, exceeding the United States and Russia for the first time, US Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth said on Thursday.

China will "spend more money in preparation of athletes, and they should clearly be favoured to win the most medals and win the most gold," Ueberroth was quoting as saying in the US media.

Robert J. Saiget
AFP