Beijing Olympic organizers Friday briefed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the city's latest progress in preparations for the 2008 Games.

Speaking via satellite hookup with the IOC Executive Board, Liu Qi, President of Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), said that BOCOG has made much headway in venue construction since their first video conference in August last year.

"The inhabitant resettlement from the area of Olympic Green has been completed," said Liu.

"In the first half of the year, we will focus on the land preparation and the detailed planning of urban infrastructure for the entire area so as to make it ready for the start of the construction of the major venues in the second half of this year."

According to Liu, a total of 44 Chinese and foreign design institutions applied for the conceptual design of the main Olympic venues. 14 of these institutions have been qualified to undertake the conceptual designs, which will be submitted in March this year.

Meanwhile, open tendering for Olympic venue proprietors is also well under way, Liu said.

"Up to date, 43 of companies from home and abroad have submitted their application documents. The second round of tendering has begun, and it will be completed in the first half of this year," he said.

As for marketing, Liu said BOCOG has laid a solid foundation for the launch of the Olympic marketing program.

"In keeping with the agreement reached between the IOC and BOCOG, marketing program for the Beijing Olympic Games will be officially launched in May this year," Liu said.

On behalf of the IOC executive board, Hein Verbruggen, president of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Beijing Olympic, expressed his gratitude to the "excellent" work done by BOCOG.

IOC president Jacques Rogge also paid a tribute to BOCOG's efforts in the preparatory work, saying he hope IOC and BOCOG will maintain their good cooperative relationship in the future.

"There's a long way to go (before 2008). But we're very confident that Beijing will deliver a best Olympic Games in 2008." Rogge said.

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