Germany's leading news agency DPA plans intensive coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games, its biggest foreign operation in sports so far this year, DPA chief executive Malte von Trotha has told Xinhua.

"For the DPA the Olympic Games are always an outstanding event in reporting. They offer, in addition to what happens in the sports venues themselves, also a chance to introduce the host country more accurately and highlight its local living conditions, customs, traditions and challenges, " said von Trotha in a written interview with Xinhua.

"The interest in these games is foreseeablely great," he said.

A well-prepared, 76-member team of the DPA will report from Beijing in words, pictures, sound and online. In addition to the sports dimension of the event, the Chinese hosts will also be the focus of attention, von Trotha said.

According to the DPA chief executive, 31 German-language and 9 foreign-language print correspondents of the DPA will do comprehensive coverage of all 28 Olympic events in German, English, Spanish and Arabic.

Because of the six-hour time difference between China and Germany, on-line reporting will play a prominent role for the DPA Olympic coverage. Its online editorial staff will work around the clock to allow readers to enjoy up-to-date summaries in the morning and live coverage of the Games during the day, he said.

Von Trotha himself will visit Beijing later this month and is due to attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2008)