Beijing - China's Capital and Cultural Hub

Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China and a hub of China's politics, culture and international exchanges. Chinese central government departments, national federations and associations, as well as foreign embassies and multinational corporations, all locate in Beijing.

Beijing's Key Socio-Economic Index

• Per Capital GDP: US$2,700 (2000) Economic Growth Rate: 10% per year (1996-2000). The economy is expected to grow at 9% per year in the next five years, higher than the national average.
• Per Capital Income: US$1,251 (by 2000)
• Government Revenue: US$4.14 billion in 2000
• Foreign Trade Volume: US$11.65 billion in 2000
• Foreign Direct Investment: US$21.6 billion in 2000
• Investment in Infrastructure Construction: USS16.7 billion (1996-2000). The figure will grow to US$21.8 billion from 2001 to 2005.
• Number of Foreign-Funded Enterprises: 15,882 (by 2000)
• Number of Hospitals: more than 50 large-scale and specialized hospitals, some 5,940 community hospitals, clinics and healthcare centers
• Number of Museums: 112 (by 2000)
• Number of Automobiles: 1.58 million (by 2000)
• Number of Bicycles: 8 million
• Number of Overseas Visitors: 2.82 million per year (2000)

Major Environmental Index

• Investment in Environmental Protection: US$12 billion from 1998-2007. Waste Disposal: 49% sewage water and 8o% garbage were treated in an environmentally friendly way (by 2000). The ratios will be raised to 90% and 100% in 2007.
• Clean Energy: Beijing now burns one billion cubic meters of natural gas every year. By 2005, natural gas, electricity and other clean fuels will make up more than 75% of the total consumption of fuels.
• Area of Forest: trees and grass cover 43% of the land of Beijing (by 2000). The ratio will be raised to 48% by 2005.
• Air Quality: The number of days with good and excellent air quality accounted for 45% of the total in 2000. The ratio will be raised to 70% in 2005. In 2000, the emission of such gas pollutants as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, floating particles and carbon monoxide were reduced by 41%, 18%, 7% and 21% respectively over 1998.

Beijing - A Modern City with Long History and Cultural Heritage

Beijing has a history of more than 3,000 years. As a renowned capital city in the Chinese history, Beijing boasts of countless cultural treasures created by generations of Beijing residents and artists and craftsmen from across the country.

Modern Beijing is now like a melting pot mixing all cultural cream into its ancient tradition.

Distinguished Records

Beijing has remained the focus of the world in recent years, particularly after the city winning the bid of hosting 2oo8 Summer Olympic Games. With experience and expertise, Beijing has hosted major congresses, exhibitions and cultural and sport events with worldwide attendance. Following is only some samples for organizers to have a glance.

• Universiad (2001) The largest University Games ever held with 4,000 young athletes worldwide. It is usually regarded as a prelude of the Olympic Games to be held in 2008.
• Three Tenors in the Forbidden City (2001) It was a cultural gala with 30,000 audience worldwide. Millions of TV viewers appreciated the performance of the top three tenors via live satellite broadcasting. As similar concerts held in recent years, three tenors choose a special venue: front court of the Forbidden City. Before the concert, only the Italian staged Turandot in the same place.
• The World Petroleum Congress (1998) All big bosses and high-sounding corporations attended the conference. Beijing has attracted business community to hold such international conventions in a bid of savvy the Chinese market.
• The World Women Congress (1995) The largest ever U.N.-sponsored event held in China with 30,000 delegates.

Easy Access and Convenient Transportation

Beijing has become a modern city with all state-of-the-art amenities.

Advanced Traffic System

Beijing will use advanced intelligent transport systems to improve safety transport services. By 2007, a fairly sophisticated city transportation network will be completed. The five ring roads with linked expressways, the newly built light rail system and the Olympic Subway will contribute to an efficient transportation system.

For instance, the Fourth Ring Road to be completed in the spring of 2001 is a principal expressway connecting the majority of the Olympic venues located in the west, northwest and north parts of the city. The Beijing Municipal Government has officially named the Fourth Ring Road the "Olympic Boulevard." It is designed to have eight-lanes with 147 flyovers to connect with the major streets of the city. A ride of less than 30 minutes can take the athletes and judges back to their lodgings.

The City Rail and the Olympic Subway will provide a high-speed rail transport for the Olympic Green.

Traffic Control:

Beijing has developed a sophisticated network consisting of a state-of-the-art traffic control center, a computerized drivers' information management system, a computer network of police command and deployment, a traffic TV monitoring system, a traffic diversion system, police patrol cars equipped with GPS system and a police hotline. In 2000, traffic congestion was reduced by 70% over 1998.

Airport:

There are three airports in Beijing that can be used during the Olympic Games in zoo8. The Beijing Capital International Airport is the largest international airport in China. It has two runways, two airport bays, and car accommodate 35 million passengers each year. The airport has flights to most large cities in the world. It takes only 20 minutes' drive from the Olympic Green to the airport. Nanyuan airport in south Beijing and Xijiao Airport can both provide transport services for the Olympic Games.

The Beijing International Airport, now with two-runways, two terminals and 75 plane ports, handles 35 million passengers every year by 2000 After adding one more runway, a new terminal and 55 standard place ports, the airport is expected to handle 48 million passengers in 2008 It is linked with 62 international air routes with 468 flights per week and 85 domestic air routes with over 3,000 flights per week.

Public Transport Web

Beijing's current public transport web can be divided into three categories.

Subway

Beijing now has two subways in operation with a total length of 54 kilometers by 2000. One runs from east to west and the other loop line goes around the city. The current subway passenger transport volume is 481 million.

The 40.85-kilometer long NO-3 subway will be ready by the end of 2002. A branch line to connect the Capital International Airport with the city will be built in 2005. The 27.7-km-long No. 5 subway and its connecting route will be completed by 2007, linking Olympic Green to the city. The 19-km Bawangfen Tongzhou light railway is scheduled to be completed by 2003. By 2008 the total length of subway

will reach 140 km with passenger handling capacity hitting 1.74 billion. All major projects have been completed or underway.

Buses

There are more than 20,000 buses in Beijing. Half of them use natural petroleum gas. By the end of this year, all the buses in the city will be converted to use natural petroleum. There are 648 bus routes in Beijing that transport to million people each day.

Beijing plans to open 5o new bus routes every year. In 2003, Beijing is expected to have 650 bus routes with annual passengers of 4.5 billion.

Besides, there are 222 long-distance bus routes linking downtown area with suburban districts and surrounding regions.

Taxis

At present, there are 67,000 taxis in Beijing. By the end of 2008, all the taxis will be equipped with a wireless telecommunication system and Global Positioning System (GPS)

Also available are 20,000 cars for rent. By the year 2008, Beijing can offer additional 20,000 cars for rent.

Roads and Railways

Beijing has a road network totaling 12,852 km in length, including 216 km of expressway. The Fourth Ring Road connects with seven expressways. By 2008, Beijing's total road length will be more than loo kilometers after the construction of the Beijing-Kaifeng, Beijing-Miyun expressways. All the towns with populations of more than 50,000 will be linked by expressway networks.

Beijing now has railway lines linking the city with all major cities nationwide and 4 railway stations for passenger or cargo transport.

Telecommunication

China's telecommunication and information industry registered double-digit growth for more than a decade. Development in the sector is to score by more than 20% of annual growth in the upcoming five years.

Now the country has the world largest fixed telephone network second only to the United States. All switching network has been digitalized. Similar in Beijing, its fixed digital telephone network now offers all manner of service available in other developed countries, such as video-conference, pre-paid card, Boo toll service, virtual private network, and collect call service. Beijing has laid more than one million kilometer of optic fiber and run the world's largest SDH network. Wide application of state-of-the-art technologies, such as DWDM, ensures the demand for telecom bandwidth.Mobile telephone coverage has hit 98% in downtown area and 90% in suburban area.

China Mobile and China Unicorn are two major mobile service providers. By offering either GSM or CDMA mobile phone services, the two companies can provide roaming services linking Beijing with 104 overseas operators. Other mobile services include prepaid card, VPNs, information-on-demand, mobile e-commerce and WAP.

China also runs the world's largest paging network with 73.7 million pager subscribers. Now the country has 518 Internet service provider (ISP), of which 120 headquartered in Beijing. All can offer service based a network with transmission speed of 2.5Gbps. Number of office buildings with wide-band Internet accession in Beijing has reached more than 3,000 by 2000. And number of Internet subscribers has totaled 2.8 million, accounting for 12.4 percent of China's total.

Beijing now runs ten wireless trunking systems covering the whole city.

Modern and Comfortable Accommodations

Beijing is a world-famous tourist destination. Its first-class hotels and conference and exhibition facilities can provide professional and quality services. The city now has 458 star-grade hotels with 84,812 rooms (by 2000). The figure will grow to Boo in 2008, with a total of 130,000 rooms. If other hotels, apartments and guesthouses are included, the city has a total of 219,481 guestrooms now.