Beijing Spends Big As It Prepares For 2022 Olympics

Chongli, China, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Feb, 2018 ) :Villages are being razed in northern China. Mountains are being cut to size. And new stadiums, high-speed train lines, expressways and three separate Olympic villages are coming to life.

With the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea having wrapped up on Sunday, the focus turns to Beijing as China spends big to host its first Winter Olympics in 2022. Still four years out, the tab for the Games has ticked upwards, with outlays appearing to eclipse the budget in Beijing's winning bid by at least half a billion Dollars, according to an AFP review of government requests for the massive project.

Beijing won the Games for its willingness to spend. For the 2008 Summer Olympics the nation poured in an estimated $40 billion. That event amounted to a stunning coming out party for the rising giant -- but afterwards many of the venues sat empty.

Beijing has pledged this time will be different, with officials drumming up sustainable development and post-Olympics plans for the heap of new facilities.