(BEIJING, December 24) -- Groundbreaking of the National Stadium was held at 9:15 am on December 24, 2003, indicating the full start of the construction of the venues for the Beijing Olympics. This also marks a historic event in China's history; China has dreamed of hosting the Games for over a century.

Attendants of the ceremony included Jia Qinglin, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Liu Qi, member of the political bureau of the Central Committee of the CPC, secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and BOCOG president, and Wang Qishan, acting mayor of Beijing and executive president of BOCOG.

In his enthusiastic speech, Liu said the National Stadium, which is drawing worldwide attention, will be a landmark, displaying the new image of the Olympics in the new century, and symbolizing the crystallization of wisdom of Chinese and foreign architects. Its construction marks the full launch of the building of Olympic venues and a significant milestone of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The National Stadium, Liu went on to say, is a key Olympic project. "We must make it a defining piece of this century while upholding the principle of adapting to the strength and conditions of our country, incorporating high international standards and the spirit of diligent work. Meanwhile we need to abide by the principle of frugality, strictly evaluate the design schemes of the project, seriously control the project's budget, and persistently pursue the quality of the venue. We must also follow the principle of openness and transparency to promote the concept of a 'sunny Olympic project' and a 'clean Olympiad.'"

Many vehicles and machines were arrayed on the site and hundreds of flags and banners waved in the wind. Eager workers looked ready to start building.

As the main stadium for the XXIX Olympiad, the National Stadium is located in the Olympic Green, northeast of the city axis line, covering an area of 204,100 square meters and forming a construction area of 258,000 square meters. During the 2008 Olympics, the stadium plans on hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, the track and field competitions, and football games, among other Olympic events. The venue has 100,000 seats, of which 20,000 are temporary. After the 2008 Olympics, the National Stadium will be converted into an 80,000-seat stadium suitable for hosting various types of large-scale sports competitions and other non-competitive events.

The design scheme of the National Stadium is the result of an international application process. Through fierce competition, the "Bird's Nest" jointly designed by Herzog & de Meuron Architekten AG, Switzerland, ARUP Consulting Company, and China Design and Architecture Institute won the bid.

Besides displaying its unique architectural style, the construction of the National Stadium discards the old-fashioned operation mode by which the government plays the role of the investor, the concerned department acts as the operator and any operational losses are supplemented by public funds. The new financing and operational mode of the National Stadium abides by the principle of "government guidance and market-oriented operation," which was clearly put forth by the Beijing municipal government and BOCOG.

The construction budget of the Beijing Olympic venues totals over 2 billion US dollars, of which only 184 million dollars will be funded by BOCOG for the assemblage of temporary venues and the expansion of other venues. The rest of the money will come from the implementation of the operational mode like that of the National Stadium. All of the application and financial processes of the project are organized, guided, coordinated and supervised through laws, policies and economic leverages formulated by the government.