Essential materials procured for Beijing Olympics

Scene of "Getting to Know"

(BEIJING, January 29) -- About 80 percent of the essential goods and materials for the Beijing Olympic Games have been procured, according to Yan Ligang, director of the Logistics Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.

Updating the press on the work by his department at a "Getting to Know" session on Tuesday, Yan said the department is responsible for supplying materials and services for the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics. Its job starts with the planning and procurement of goods and materials and extends to their disposal after the Games. The supply process also includes such key steps as management, customs, storage, distribution and recovery.

Yan Ligang (1st, R) with reporters

Yan said the goods and materials for the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics can be divided into 32 categories and 20,000 kinds, amounting to millions of pieces. For instance, there are more than 100 kinds of white appliances in over 40,000 pieces, with half of them used in the Olympic Village. "At present, the demands of the materials have been met and 80 percent of the essential goods have been bought," he said.

Yan said during the 29 Good Luck Beijing sport events in the past, more than 4,000 kinds of materials in 585,000 pieces were supplied. Owing to careful management, the preservation rate of durable goods has reached 98.7 percent.

He said the Beijing Olympic Logistics Center is operating normally and will take on the transportation of such oversized freight as horses and boats in cooperation with international companies, including UPS, Schenker and Royal Dutch Airlines.

To honor the Olympic bid promise, BOCOG is responsible for transporting the 225 horses participating in the Olympics and the 78 horses for the Paralympics.

The Beijing Olympic Logistics Center, an important non-competition Olympic venue located at the Beijing Airport Logistics Park at Shunyi, handles storage, security check, customs, and distribution for most of the materials for the Olympics.

Occupying an area of 20 hectares with a storehouse of 96,000 sq meters and a container yard of 50,000 sq meters, the center was launched in March 2007.

"We aim for security, high efficiency, frugality, and high quality and will guarantee the provision of all materials for the success of the Olympics," Yan noted.