April 2002: The Beijing Municipal Planning Commission set up an "Office for Olympic Projects," whose responsibility is to organize, coordinate and formulate documents related to the ownership bidding of Olympic venues and auxiliary facilities.

October 2002: Invitations were sent worldwide requesting participation in Olympic projects. Concurrently, an international competition was held to seek the conceptual design of the National Stadium. After an initial evaluation process, seven individual organizations and an equal number of groups from China, the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia took part in the contest.

January-February 2003: The evaluation committee recommended seven applicants to the Beijing municipal government regarding management of the National Stadium. Five of the qualified applicants entered the second round of bidding.

April 2003: After a strict evaluation process and public vote, the "Bird's Nest" blueprint brought forth by Swiss architecture firm Herzog de Meuron, ARUP Consulting Company and China Architecture Design and Research Group won the design bid due to its novel style and unique structure. Meanwhile, the application documents for the ownership of the National Stadium were officially released.

June 2003: Comprehensive evaluation was conducted on the submissions of the optimized designs, construction, financing, operation and delivery schemes.

July 2003: The evaluation committee recommended the two top contestants with the best assessments.

August 2003: Following negotiations and approval by the Beijing municipal government, a consortium led by the China International Trust and Investment Company (CITIC) won the bid and became the owner of the National Stadium. The consortium comprises the CITIC Group, he Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG), the Golden State Holding Group and the CITIC Group affiliate Guan Elstrong.

August 9, 2003: Agreements regarding the main stadium of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games - the National Stadium -- were officially signed. The CITIC Group, winner of the tender application for the project, signed the "Chartered Rights Agreement" with the Beijing municipal government. The new owners also signed the "Agreement on the National Stadium" with the Beijing municipal government and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), as well as the "Joint Operation Contract" with the Beijing State-Owned Assets Management Co., Ltd. (BSAM).

September 2003: BSAM and the CITIC consortium officially launched the preparatory work for the formation of the National Stadium Co., Ltd.

November 2003: The National Stadium Co., Ltd. and the Swiss-Chinese architecture group initiated the "National Stadium Design Service Contract."

End of 2003: The National Stadium Co., Ltd. submitted its registration documents for approval. The project's preparatory work has been completed: its site has been cleared; fences have been set up; trees have been removed and procurement of electrical equipment has begun.