Beijing hopes a successful Olympic Games in 2008 will boost China's image on the world stage. But with up to US$16 billion expected to be spent on the construction of stadiums and related infrastructure and services, corruption is threatening to tarnish China's image.
With the Games more than three years away, there have already been two corruption scandals. The former deputy chief of the Beijing Transport Bureau - which is in charge of building highways around Beijing in preparation for the Olympics - went on trial this month for allegedly taking 10 million yuan in bribes and embezzling three million yuan.
Last summer, China's National Audit Office found 109 million yuan earmarked for sports infrastructure and athlete training had been siphoned off to build new apartments for officials.
Corruption is widespread in China, but Beijing is aiming to hold a 'clean' Games and a special committee has been set up to stamp out corruption related to the event.
Transparency International, the global corruption watchdog, commended the procurement procedure for construction projects set up by the committee. 'If they follow through with these procedures they will be world leaders in anti-corruption techniques,' said Transparency International project director for construction and engineering, Neill Stansbury.
But preventing Olympic corruption will be difficult, particularly in construction, which in all countries is considered especially susceptible to bias. 'Nowhere is corruption more ingrained than in the construction sector,' says Peter Eigen, chairman of Transparency International. On Wednesday the watchdog released its annual global corruption report - this year focusing on construction.