Olympic inspectors end Beijing evaluation visit

Inspectors from the International Olympic Committee have ended a visit to the Chinese capital, Beijing, saying they're impressed with the city's bid to host the Games in two-thousand-and-eight.

The head of the evaluation commission, Heim Verbruggen, told a news conference that Beijing had clearly demonstrated its capability -- and his team felt there was strong support among people in the city. Ten-thousand cyclists took to the streets today to express their backing for hosting the Games. However, the BBC correspondent in Beijing says Mr Verbruggen was more reluctant to be drawn on the state of the environment in the city -- the poor air quality and it's often clogged traffic system.

The Chinese government has promised to spend twelve billion dollars in the next seven years cleaning up Beijing.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service