Top bid officials from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee said Tuesday their confidence that the city will win is growing as the race for the bid enters its final stages.
Arriving in Moscow on July 7, Chinese officials had kept silent until Tuesday respecting a pre-vote ban on public bid promotion set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
"After contacting the IOC, we have been informed that limited interviews are acceptable," Jiang Xiaoyu, vice-president of the Beijing bid committee, told a group of reporters Tuesday in the first interview since the Beijing delegation arrived in Moscow.
"I think we have displayed the capacity, conditions and advantages of the city through the efforts of the past two days," said Jiang.
He said the delegation's priority at the moment is to prepare for the final presentation on July 13 right before the vote.
According to Jiang, the delegation had attached great importance to the presentation, the only chance Beijing has to introduce its bid to all of the IOC members at once.
"We are doing everything possible to make the presentation perfect," said Jiang.
Beijing's bid received a huge boost when Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing arrived in Moscow Tuesday.
Li is the representative of the Chinese Government.
"The central government has consistently shown extensive support for the city's bid, with President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji expressing their supports on many occasions.
"The arrival of the vice-premier is a great encouragement to our bid," he said.
(China Daily 07/11/2001)
