After just one day in Beijing, the head of the Australian state that hosted the 2000 Olympics said the Chinese capital was in good shape to hold the 2008 games.

"Beijing looks like an Olympic host city to me," New South Wales Premier Bob Carr, said Wednesday, a day after arriving on his first ever visit to the city.

Beijing, which lost to Sydney by two votes in 1993 for the right to host the 2000 Olympics, is bidding against Paris, Toronto, Osaka in Japan and Istanbul in Turkey for the 2008 games.

Carr said Beijing's planned Olympic facilities were "impressive," with a proposed Olympic village close to sporting venues concentrated together and served by public transport. The city's growing economy bodes well for meeting the cost of hosting the games, Carr said after meeting the mayor of Beijing, Liu Qi.

Asked to suggest any improvements Beijing could make, Carr said he wasn't familiar enough with the city to point out any deficiencies.

"But I do know from discussions with the mayor that the economic growth of Beijing stands it in good stead to mount a strong bid and very possibly a successful bid," he said.

Carr said New South Wales wanted to share its experience hosting the games with Beijing.

"We think we've got a lot to offer when it comes to training of volunteers, to the organization of infrastructure like the Olympic village and to environmental management,'' he said at a briefing for reporters.

"Beijing will have to find its own approach to the tough and searching questions that may be asked" during the IOC's review of its bid, he said.

Carr came to Beijing after visiting the southern city of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province which has sister relations with New South Wales. He leaves Thursday for Shanghai after meeting with the Communist Party head of Beijing, Jia Qinglin.

(People's Daily 11/09/2000)