But another 11 jobs will remain vacant because the committee said it had not found suitable applicants through the nationwide campaign.

The 45 people include seven Chinese studying overseas.

The campaign, which started last October, attracted over 1,000 applicants vying for the 56 jobs created by the committee.

With the goal of hosting the most successful Olympic games in history, the committee has been seeking all kinds of talented workers since its establishment at the end of 2001. The committee is expected to have 4,000 staff members by 2008, about 36 times the present number.

Now that the short-term campaign is finished, the committee is set to unveil a long-term talent-search program. Applicants can log onto the official website, www.beijing-olympic.org.cn, for details.

In another development, 43 companies and consortia from home and abroad are jockeying for position in the race to win bids for Beijing 2008 Olympic sports venues and facilities.

Officials with the Beijing Development Planning Commission said yesterday that an evaluation panel comprising domestic and foreign specialists will evaluate and determine a short list of candidates from among the bidders by the end of this month.

Wu Guiying, vice-director of the committee, said there were seven applicants competing for the National Stadium project, three for the National Swimming Center, six for the Convention Center, 13 for the National Gymnasium and Olympic Village, six for the Wukesong Culture and Sports Center, six for the Olympic Water Park, and two for the Beijing Countryside Horse Racetrack Venue.

After pre-qualification, three to five candidates will be shortlisted for each of the seven projects. They will then be asked to present more detailed tendering documents on investment in, and construction, operation and management of the projects. The final bid winners will be decided by the end of this year, said Wu.

Liu Zhi, vice-director of the Engineering Department under the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games, said 30 out of the 43 applicants were joint bidders and thus a total of 114 companies have participated in the bidding.

Foreign companies have shown great enthusiasm for the projects, Liu said. More than 50 enterprises from 12 countries, such as the United States, Japan and Germany, have handed in their pre-qualification documents.

(China Daily January 10, 2003)