Beijing Capital International Airport yesterday invited bids for a 600 million yuan (US$74 million) hotel complex, the first time a State-owned giant has asked private investors to get involved in such a project.

According to Liu Guixin, general manager of Beijing Capital Airport Tourism Co Ltd, the complex will be made up of a four-star hotel, an economy hotel and a business building for domestic and foreign carriers.

The complex will be situated next to Terminal No 3, which is under construction and expected to be completed by 2007.

A new expressway and a metro line linking the new terminal and the city centre are also due to be finished at the same time.

The hotel complex is part of a 30 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) renovation programme for China's top international airport in terms of history and handling capacity.

The programme will help ease the pressure at the airport because of over capacity and is also aimed at the 2008 Olympic Games.

"Construction of the hotels will be completed within 20 months, while the bid period is scheduled to end by December," said Liu.

The airport says that both domestic and foreigner investors are welcome to get involved in the bid.

Liu said the hotel complex is expected to be a flagship project at the airport.

Guoxin Tendering Corporation Ltd, a Beijing-based agency involved in the 2008 Olympic gym construction bid, will acts as consultant for the tender.

Its vice-general manager, Tang Xiaoping, told China Daily that the post-Olympic prospects for the hotel complex were promising.

"In addition to the ever-increasing number of business travellers coming to the capital, Beijing's new exhibition centre near the airport, with an area of 200,000 square metres, will attract customers to the hotel," said Tang.

Currently, 35 million passengers pass through the airport annually and it handles 790,000 tons of freight.

After renovation, those figures are estimated to reach 72 million passengers and 2-3 million tons of freight, making the airport one of the world top 10.

This is a trial to see if Beijing Capital International Airport can develop using market-oriented methods, said Zhang Ping, a researcher at the Economic Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Given the hotel complex will present an image of the city, flexibility over the design and operation might be limited," said Zhang.

He added that all airports make money from non-aviation business.

(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2005)