Beijing - International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials on Tuesday met organizers of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the start of a three-day inspection of the city's preparations for the games. The IOC and Beijing organizing committee (BOCOG) officials held the ninth session of the Coordination Commission for the 2008 Olympics, led by commission chairman Hein Verbruggen.
Verbruggen "commended Beijing and BOCOG for their contributions to the Olympic Games preparations", BOCOG reported on its website.
He said preparations had reached a "critical phase" and that the IOC would work closely with Beijing to produce a "high-level Olympics with distinguishing features".
Liu Peng, China's sports minister and BOCOG executive president, promised the IOC that Beijing would "do an outstanding job as host of next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games", BOCOG said.
Liu said arrangements for venues, ticketing, media services, the Paralympics had "progressed efficiently" and that the foundations of a "safe Olympics" were already in place.
The IOC said earlier that it would use the visit to "fully understand the state of BOCOG's progress" and "review the lessons learned" from test events.
Officials said the talks would focus on client, transportation, medical, spectator and media services.
They were are also expected to cover marketing and environmental issues, especially air quality.
IOC officials have long expressed concerns over the level of pollutants and suspended particles in Beijing's air.
IOC President Jacques Rogge said in early August that air pollution could force the delay or postponement of some outdoor endurance events during next year's Olympics.
The Chinese government said traffic control measures tested in August had removed an average of about 1.3 million of the city's 3 million vehicles per day from Beijing's roads and cut emissions of major air pollutants by up to 20 per cent.
Some 10,500 athletes and 20,000 journalists are expected at next year's games, which are scheduled to run from August 8 to 24.
