Olympics venues in Beijing are likely to be opened to visitors later this year, Du Jiang, director of Beijing Tourism Administration, said yesterday.

Olympic competition venues slated to be open to the public include the Beijing Olympics Stadium, nicknamed the "bird's nest" by locals, and the National Aquatics Center, Du said at the opening ceremony of the Beijing International Tourism Exposition.

The special sightseeing program is dependent on visitor safety arrangements and there being no interference with ongoing construction work, Du added.

"Beijing doesn't plan to make any profit from this," Du said. "The city hopes to help visitors, both domestic and foreign, understand more about Games preparation work, and to boost people's confidence in the Beijing 2008 Olympics."

According to Du, the main venues will be first opened to overseas visitors.

Construction work on the venues started in December 2003 and is expected to be complete by the end of 2007.

(China Daily June 23, 2006)