BEIJING, June 19(Xinhua)-- As the clock ticks towards the Olympic Games, Beijing still faces awesome challenges as host city.

"The situation is pressing, and the tasks are daunting," said Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), when visiting non-competition venues on Monday.

"We need to prepare ourselves for all kinds of situations, put in more effort, and continue to work on the details," he told the Games organizing staff.

With less than eight weeks to the Olympics, which opens on August 8, Beijing has been tightening security, one of the major focuses.

Last Wednesday, China launched a series of national-level anti-terrorist drills, preparing the security forces against chemical attacks, hijacking and other possible contingencies.

Sniffer dogs will be brought into the capital to help detect explosives. Beginning from June, the country's postal service has suspended mailing parcels containing liquids until October 31. The new measure followed a previous liquid ban introduced in April on carry-on baggage in domestic flights.

"Security work is the basis and key to a successful Olympics... and it has come to a critical point as the Games approach," said China's top security official Zhou Yongkang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, on an inspection tour of the safety work for the Olympics on June 1.

Besides security, logistics poses another major challenge for Beijing as it hosts the largest sports event in its history.
关键字:英语国际新闻
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