Seven members of an Olympic inspection team to look at Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics arrived in China's capital city Tuesday morning, joining the 10 who landed on Monday for a four-day tour in the city Wednesday.

The seven from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission include Chairman Hein Verbruggen from the Netherlands, Vice-Chairman Gilbert Felli from Switzerland and Ukraine's track legend Sergei Bubka, the athlete representative of the 17-member group.

Beijing 2008 Bidding Committee President and Mayor Liu Qi and IOC executive board member He Zhenliang headed a welcome group at the airport.

Despite jetlag from a long flight, Verbruggen and the other members looked pleased by the welcome they received.

"I am absolutely overwhelmed by the warm reception, but next time I will make sure we don't come at six o'clock in the morning," he joked.

Referring to Beijing's coldest winter in the past few years, which is now coming to an end,, he joked: "I hope to bring some warmth."

Verbruggen, who is a frequent visitor to Beijing, said he was amazed by the ancient city which has been "very very rapidly developed."

"For those who haven't been here before, they cannot see the difference. But I was here in October and I was absolutely flabbergasted by the enormous amount of construction that has been taking place over the last few years," the chairman said.

The commission will listen to presentations from the Beijing bid committee every morning from Wednesday until Saturday and then make inspection visits.

"Through this inspection we hope to convey the real conditions and capabilities of Beijing and the enthusiasm and confidence of Beijing people to the International Olympic Committee and all its members," said Liu Jingmin, vice-president of the bidding committee.

Liu listed five points on which Beijingers hope the IOC will discover the credentials of the city in terms of its ability to host the Games.

Dynamic economic growth, extensive public support for the bid, sufficient accommodation, communications and transport capacity and the meticulously-planned Olympic venues will all combine to make Beijing a strong candidate, Liu said.

Representatives from around 1, 100 non-governmental groups in Beijing Tuesday signed in a letter which expressed their support for Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games and is to be dedicated to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Juan Samaranch.

Beijing is competing with Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul for the Games. It lost its last bid, to Sydney, in 1993.

(China Daily 02/20/01)