On December 5, Beijing officially announced the beginning of the international design tender for the Longtanhu sports park. The Longtanhu sports park, the first of its kind in China, with an estimated RMB 6 billion yuan (US$740million) in investment, will start construction in Beijing in 2 years time and complete in 2008.

Longtanhu sports park occupies 2.4 sq. kilometers, neighboring the Temple of Heaven and the Ming Dynasty City Wall. The design tender is to be completed early next March, and international design companies must submit their entries before December 20, 2003.

According to Beijing officials, the Longtanhu sports park project has been included in the Action Plan for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and financing for the project will fully adopt market models.

Longtanhu sports park includes a sports theme park, a sports business district, an international sports exchange area and a service area. The main entrance will be the "China sports triumph gate" and will open onto the Olympic boulevard along which portraits, handprints and names of previous Chinese Olympic champions will be engraved.

The Longtanhu sports park will mainly be used as a communication center for athletes from around the world, as well as for hosting delegations and exhibitions.