Qingdao, the eastern Chinese city to hold the 2008 Olympic sailing event, will start auctioning its land for building Olympic facilities to draw at least 3.3 billion yuan (US$400.9 million) for venue construction.

The starting prices of the first three pieces of land to be listed for sale next month add up to 1.3 billion yuan, all of which will be used for Olympic venue construction, according to land resources department of the city government.

These three pieces of land were expected to function as recreation centers, public parking lots and commercial streets during the Games.

The final bidders have the rights to use the land but should subject the land for Olympic use in 2008, according to the government.

Qingdao has mapped out 38.74 hectares seaside area for building Olympic facilities. Construction of the main venues, including Olympic village, the administration offices and the media center, needs to be completed by July 2006.

The project costs more than 3 billion yuan and none of this money is expected to come from local government's budget.

The government will auction off the Olympic land and facilities to firms, which are allowed to transform these venues into business after 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2005)