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No Corruption Found in Games Preparation

No corruption has been found anywhere in Beijing's preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games, a senior supervision official with BOCOG said on June 6.

The committee has also received no complaints of corruption from the public, Gu Yueren, director of Supervision and Audit for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), said.

Hotlines and e-mail contacts have been made available to the public to report corruption during Olympic preparations.

Gu spoke to China Daily at the Second Consultation of the Public Integrity Education Network, which began on June 5.

Twenty-six experts from 18 countries and regions took part in the consultation.

Keong Tan Tay from the Singapore International Foundation said yesterday that Olympic corruption involves more than money. It is also a political issue related to China's national image.

Gu agreed, adding that Beijing Olympic organizers continue to face a risk of corruption, because the sums involved in the preparation are so large.

"Preparation for the Games is a test of the use of proactive methods to prevent any corruption," he said.

The corruption prevention system established by Beijing's Olympic organizers has proven effective, Gu said.

He said the organizing committee would ensure the equality and transparency of the Games and will accept supervision by the public.

Oversight of staff work, financial management, purchasing, marketing and venue construction has been strengthened through supervision and auditing, the official said.

Audits have been conducted twice a year since the beginning of the project. Four audits per year will be performed leading up to the Games, beginning in 2006.

BOCOG officials are forbidden from taking part in negotiations between BOCOG and prospective partner companies that they had previously worked for.

A delegate at the consultation, Fredrik Galtung, a Norwegian, said it is necessary to learn about supervision skills used in the two most recent Olympic events in Athens and Sydney.

Gu agreed, but said that since BOCOG is the first Olympic organizing committee ever to establish its own special supervisory department, it could find no corresponding partner from previous games to communicate with.

"We cooperated with Tsinghua University on researching supervision in previous Games," Gu said.