Under another blue sky day, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the key legacy of the Beijing 2008 Games would be environmental improvement.
As the capital prepared to enjoy another month of cleaner air thanks to the upcoming Paralympics, Dr Rogge said he still felt that the Games had changed China 'for the better'.
'The Games have brought a huge improvement [on the environment] and will have a long-lasting impact in China,' he said.
'I believe these Games have opened up the country. People will understand China better. Similarly, I believe that China has experienced that they cannot live in isolation,' added the 65-year-old, who is likely to stand for re-election next year after what he and others in the IOC regard as a successful Olympics.
The IOC would urge China to maintain greater freedoms for the foreign media after the end of the Beijing Games, he said. 'There has been evolution, albeit imperfect, in media freedoms with new rules agreed and obtained from the government,' said Dr Rogge, who added that the experience of the past 17 days would prove irreversible. 'We know the system is not perfect. A glass is either half-full or half-empty, and I believe it is half-full. Time will tell.'
Dr Rogge said he had raised with Chinese officials the extension of reporting rights beyond October, when they are officially due to end, and had been given 'indications that this might be considered'.