The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) signed an arrangement on equestrian competition of the 29th Olympic Games and 13th Paralympic Games here Thursday.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) signed an arrangement on equestrian competition of the 29th Olympic Games and 13th Paralympic Games August 31, 2006. [BOCOG]

The ceremony was chaired by BOCOG Executive Vice President Wang Wei. BOCOG Executive Vice President Jiang Xiaoyu also attended the ceremony.

The Hong Kong SAR has attached great importance to the organization and staging of the equestrian events and designated its Home Affairs Bureau to take charge of the preparatory work.

The preparations for the events are so far moving smoothly. The Hong Kong Equestrian Venue located at Shatin is currently under construction, while the venue at Beas River is undergoing early works for construction. The Olympic sub-village in Hong Kong is being selected.

Local organizers have also made up the competition schedule of the events, which are expected to start on Aug. 9 and ends on Aug. 20, 2008. Other works related to the organization of the events, including selection of referees and veterinarians, has also been defined.

The International Olympic Committee decided to move the equestrian events from Beijing to Hong Kong, after talks between BOCOG and the International Equestrian Federation in Singapore on July 8, 2005.

The arrangement was signed at a high-profile ceremony witnessed by a host of senior officials, including Liu Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and BOCOG president, Chen Zhili, state councilor and BOCOG first vice president, Tung Chee Hwa, vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Dr Patrick C.P. HO, secretary for the Home Affairs Bureau of Hong Kong SAR, and Timothy Fok, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong.