Beijing: China has cut down the budget for its 12th National Games by a hefty 78 percent as the once booming economy has slowed down with no respite in sight. The total funding for the 12th National Games will be reduced to 800 million Yuan (USD 130 million) which is a huge drop of 78 percent from the previous budget, which was 3.6 billion Yuan (USD 590 million), said the Games organizing committee.
China hosted national and international sports events in the past, including Beijing Olympics with lavish settings.
"For the opening and closing ceremonies, stadium construction, the torch relay and all other segments of the National Games, we strive to create, hopefully, a fresh fashion of organizing big events in a thrift manner and reaping practical achievement at the same time," said He Min, deputy director of the organizing committee of the Games to be held in China's northeastern Liaoning Province.
The number of competition and training venues has been reduced from 129 to 117. And only 10 stadiums are newly constructed for the Games, accounting for 8.5 of the total venues, a news agency reported.
The opening and closing ceremonies will also be delivered in a frugal manner. Since its inauguration in 1987, the Games will feature its opening ceremony for the first time during the daytime, which will result in a clean cut of the expense for lighting and fireworks.
In addition, the organizers pledged to get rid of redundant arrangement of the Games, namely the cancellation of a series of conferences and exhibitions, and the combination of awarding ceremonies for contributory institutions and outstanding individuals.
Furthermore, the number of foreign guests to be invited for the Games will be reduced by half, with neither welcome banquets nor souvenirs for them. - See more at:
Sluggish economy forces China to slash national games budget by 78 percent
Austerity measures?