Nicholas Craig column

Oct 28 2005 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

Beijing, into which I flew on Wednesday is, like London, proudly preparing to host the Olympic Games.

In China's capital, however, the cost of the airport terminal, roads and metros alone has shot up to £17bn and officials have called, perhaps belatedly, for a more frugal approach.

Some of the Olympic stadiums are being scrapped and some are being drastically reduced to save millions. Standing in the centre of Beijing, however, it is hard to believe there has been any slowing of pace. It is a city of countless cranes, bobbing and weaving above rising buildings in a graceful, tireless ritual 24 hours a day. The skyline literally changes before your eyes.

Time is ticking fast, because after 2006 no new building will be allowed. Officials don't want unfinished edifices on show during the Olympics. The extraordinary stadiums, including the "eggshell", "water cube" and "bird's nest" will undoubtedly wow first-time visitors to the city.

Beijing is the busiest city I have ever encountered. The physical changes are matched by its extraordinary financial expansion. The country's economy is growing more than four times faster than Britain's - faster, in fact, than any economy in history. Beijing sees the Games as a key "coming-out" party, during which it can finally be recognised as an influential, outward-looking world culture.

While here I am visiting Susan Ning, whose law firm is the official legal adviser to the Olympics. I first met Susan in Newcastle in the early 1990s, soon after she had set up her Beijing practice. It now employs 300-plus lawyers and, like the city, is growing fast.

Susan is an astute businesswoman, keen to help open up her country to free trade and tourists. China needs the focus on its tourism and world trade potential. Tens of millions of Chinese live on about 50p a day and healthcare spending is among the lowest in the world.

The country is going through massive social changes, with one-child families stamping out the comfort of the extended family system. There is no government help for the unemployed, sick or old people to take the place of the multi-generational family support.

The Olympics is only the beginning of the massive changes we will witness in Beijing this century.