Preparations for the 2008 Beijing Games are on track, said visiting Luxembourg's Grand Duke Duc Henri, also a member of the International Olympic Committee(IOC), on Monday.

Grand Duke Henri made the remarks on a tour of the Beijing Olympic venue construction sites, the national stadium known as the "bird's nest" and the National Aquatic Center called the "water cube", which are due to be completed in 2007.

"I am very confident in China's ability to pull off a great games," said Grand Duke Henri, adding that the amazing projects are taking shape and the IOC believe there is enough time for Beijing to finish the preparations.

A total of 31 sites across Beijing will see Olympic action in 2008 - 11 of them are new and eight others are temporary facilities. Construction on all the new venues and the renovation of nine of 11 existing sites have started and are due to be completed by the end of 2007, according to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games(BOCOG).

Grand Duke Henri believes that the traffic congestion in Beijing will not be a problem considering government plans to build roads for new metro lines.

After the tour, Grand Duke Duc Henri also met with the BOCOG President Liu Qi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Liu extended the wish to cooperate with Luxembourg for a well-organized Olympic Games.

Grand Duke Duc Henri started his week-long state visit to China on September 3 at the invitation of Chinese president Hu Jintao.

Besides Beijing, Grand Duke Henri will also visit China's eastern province of Shandong and the country's economic powerhouse Shanghai.

Source: Xinhua