China will host a high-level Olympics in a friendly and safe environment, according to Tajikistan ambassador to China Rashid Alimov.

The Beijing Olympics was a grand sports event for the world and it would showcase the achievements made by athletes across the planet, he said in Beijing on Monday.

The Olympiad was also an opportunity for China to make the country better known to the rest of the world in a comprehensive manner, he added.

Alimov spoke highly of the preparatory work by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), saying the newly-built sports venues embodied advanced construction techniques and features of traditional Chinese culture.

BOCOG had also honored its commitment to host a "green" Olympics, he said, adding the air in Beijing was a lot cleaner and the city was more beautiful than that of recent years.

Alimov said 13 Tajikstan athletes would participate in five sports. These included boxing, judo, swimming, the hammer throw and freestyle wrestling. These athletes were "highly competitive" and contenders for medals.

He said Emomali Sharipovich Rakhmonov, the Tajikstan president, had already confirmed to attend the Games opening ceremony. This marked the first time a Tajikstan President would attend such an event.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2008)