Shanghai to Host 2006 World Short-course Swimming Championships

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, July 13, 2003

Shanghai to Host 2006 World Short-course Swimming Championships

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Shanghai has been chosen as the site for the 8th FINA World Championships (25-meter pool) in 2006, it was announced here on Saturday by swimming's world governing body -- the International Amateur Swimming Federation (FINA).

Shanghai beat two other bidders, all in Asia -- Macao of China and Ienchen of South Korea -- in the race for hosting the May 1-5,2006 event.

Shanghai, China's largest city and one of the world's largest metropolitans, is located in the Yangtze River delta in the eastern coast. Known as "a pearl in the orient", Shanghai is China's most important industrial base and the hub of culture and sciences, trade, finance and information. It has an area of 6,450 square kilometers and a population of 16 million.

The eastern Chinese city had hosted major sports events such asthe FINA World Cup series (1998-2002), the Master Cup tennis (lastyear) and FINA Diving World Cup (1986).

And Shanghai will be the host for several sports event in the years to come -- the world table tennis championships in 2005 and the Special Olympics World Games in 2007.

South Korean port city Incheon, 32 kilometers from the capital city Seoul, has only hosted the semi-finals of last year's World Cup Finals the country co-hosted with Japan.

"We are honored to be the hosts. It's a victory for the Chinese and for the Asians as a whole," said Jin Guoxiang, chief of the Shanghai municipal sports bureau, after the announcement.

Officials of the Shanghai bid committee have promised to make the event a unique one. "FINA has awarded Shanghai a chance and we shall return with a surprise to the world. We will spare nothing to make the 2006 championships the most impressive, memorable and satisfactory one," he said.

"We won the bid due to many reasons. I think the decision was based on an all-around evaluation by FINA Bureau members. China has made considerably progress during the last 20 plus years with the wise policies of reforms and opening to the outside world. Shanghai has been recognized worldwide for its status as an international metropolitan as well as its experience in hosting international sports event," he added.

Officials from Incheon and Macao all expressed congratulations to Jin and his colleagues, for Shanghai's victory.

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