A large number of semi-permanent structures including cafe, food stores, sanitary facilities and meeting halls will appear in Beijing to facilitate services for the city's host of the 2008 Olympic from next year.

Experts with the Beijing Association for the Promotion of Science and Technology in Urban Construction are drafting a guideline for the introduction of semi-permanent structures for the big event.

The association estimated that the city would need to build 80,000 square meters of floor space of temporary structures and facilities. China's annual market demand for the event products is estimated at 400-500 million yuan (US$50-62 million) in the future.

The Beijing Urban Construction International (BUCI) has engaged in talks for the imports with the DeBoer Group, the world's leading provider for rental structure and accommodation solutions.

Tong Bin, vice president of BUCI said that a set of facilities can be reused for more than 40 times, and organizers can spare the expenses for land transfer commission for building and installation.

According to urban planning officials with the municipal government, the most important concerns for building temporary buildings is to comply with the architecture style of the ancient capital, which features many historical buildings.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2006)