Chinese president opens World University Games
( 2001-08-23 09:06 ) (7 )

Pop star A-mei from Taiwan performs at the opening ceremony for the 21st World University Games in Beijing. [newsphoto.com.cn]

President Jiang Zemin opened the World University Championships Wednesday night at Beijing's Workers' Stadium amid a lavish spectacle of singing and dancing.

"The 21st Universiade is now open," Jiang told the 60,000 people attending the opening ceremony as a volley of fireworks illuminated the Beijing night sky.

The Universiade torch then ended its three-month, 20,000-kilometre (12,400-mile) journey across the country in the hands of China's world champion diver Tian Liang.

Tian Liang ascended a platform and lit a flying saucer-type object that mysteriously soared several hundred metres (feet) into the air before shooting off a firework.

China's six other top leaders, including Premier Zhu Rongji and parliamentary head Li Peng, were also present at the ceremony.

Their presence and that of an unusually large number of International Olympic Committee members was indicative of the importance Beijing has placed on the Universiade as proof that it is capable of staging the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Earlier, with hundreds of white doves circling overhead, some 168 delegations of athletes and officials paraded around the stadium.

The Universiade, which concludes on September 1, features the 10 sports of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) -- athletics, basketball, fencing, football, gymnastics, swimming, diving, waterpolo, tennis and volleyball -- as well as guest sports, judo and table tennis.