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INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2047
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4209
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 007251 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ECON KOLY ETRD EINV PGOV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: OLYMPIC DISAPPOINTMENT IN CENTRAL CHINA AS HENAN ON OUTSIDE 
LOOKING IN 
 
REF: BEIJING 7046 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Contacts in Henan Province said they are disappointed that 
Central China has been largely excluded from the events surrounding 
the 2008 Beijing Olympics even as they look forward to the Games as 
a "national event" and a "showcase."  One official went so far as to 
say that because all of the athletic events will take place on the 
coast, the Olympics will symbolically demonstrate to the world and 
to the Chinese people the growing wealth gap between Central China 
and the coast.  At the same time, however, our contacts acknowledged 
that Central China is not prepared logistically-speaking to host 
events of the magnitude of the Olympics.  Officials hope that Henan 
will benefit from the Olympics by using the Games as a vehicle to 
attract more investment and more tourists.  END SUMMARY 
 
TRAVEL TO HENAN PROVINCE 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) Emboffs traveled to Henan Province November 13-16 with stops 
in Anyang, Kaifeng, and Zhengzhou.  Emboffs met with officials from 
the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, Development and Reform 
Commission, and Bureau of Commerce in Anyang (an industrial city) 
and Kaifeng (a tourism destination), both of which are considered 
"third-tier" cities in China, and exchanged views with students at 
Henan University in Kaifeng.  Emboffs visited Zhengzhou on November 
16 to meet with Provincial level officials and talk to students at 
Henan Light Industry University.  Zhengzhou is a VPP city, and 
photos from this trip can be found at http://zhengzhou.usvpp.gov. 
 
 
OLYMPICS A "NATIONAL" EVENT 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Henan Provincial and Municipal officials as well as 
university officials said they are excited about the upcoming 2008 
Beijing Olympic Games as a "national" event which will be a 
"showcase" for China.  The Vice President of Henan University in 
Kaifeng told Emboffs he is extremely happy about China hosting the 
Olympics, and other provincial government officials agreed that the 
Olympics are an opportunity for China.  A Provincial Foreign Affairs 
Officer said that children in Henan Province, as in the rest of the 
country, are especially excited about the Olympics and are 
collecting Olympic mascot toys and learning more about each of the 
Olympic events in school. 
 
BUT CENTRAL CHINA LARGELY LEFT OUT 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Our contacts said, however, that they are disappointed 
Central China will not host any Olympic events with all of the 
Olympic venues (Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenyang, Tianjin, 
Qinhuangdao, and Hong Kong) on the more developed coast.  One 
official said the lack of events in the region will further expose 
China's growing wealth gap. She lamented that the Olympics will 
symbolically demonstrate to the world and to the Chinese people that 
development is concentrated on China's coast while Central and 
Western China are left behind.  Several contacts said they 
understand Henan Province does not yet have the facilities to host 
an event the scale of the Olympics, but they nevertheless expressed 
disappointment that Central China is left largely on the outside 
looking in. 
 
SOME HOPE FOR MORE TOURISM, INVESTMENT 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) In Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Anyang, contacts uniformly said 
they are hopeful that the Olympics will help attract investors and 
tourists to Henan.  An official at the Anyang Municipal Development 
Reform Commission (DRC) said Anyang, the home of the famed Oracle 
Bones, is likely to enjoy an increase in tourists before and after 
the Games.  DRC contacts in all three cities, however, also said 
that the province does not have a specific plan to attract more 
tourists on the margins of the Olympics.  They are simply hopeful 
that the word will get out about Henan's attractions such as the 
Oracle Bones, Longmen Grottoes, and Shaolin Temple, and foreign 
tourists will book separate packages to go to Henan while they are 
in China. 
 
¶6. (SBU) As in other cities where Olympic events will take place 
such as Qingdao (reftel), Henan officials said the most substantive 
benefit for the province and region will be raising the economic 
 
BEIJING 00007251  002 OF 002 
 
 
profile for prospective investors.  Wei Zhiyong, Head of the Foreign 
Economy Department at the Henan DRC, said that it is difficult to 
predict how much added investment will reach Henan and Central China 
as a direct result of the Olympics, but the province hopes there 
will be more interest in investment opportunities in the region 
after the Olympics have concluded. 
 
COMMENT:  OLYMPICS WILL NOT BENEFIT HENAN 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) With no Olympic events taking place in Henan, and without 
any concrete plans to entice Olympic visitors to tourist 
destinations in the province or attract new foreign investors, 
provincial and municipal government officials -- despite 
exhortations that the Olympics are a great national event -- are 
feeling shortchanged about the upcoming Games.  There is a high 
likelihood that residents in Henan and other interior provinces will 
feel jaded by the Olympics when faced by the obvious juxtaposition 
of high profile events on the coast against a total lack of activity 
in Central and Western China.  Despite the government's efforts to 
balance its economy through its Central China Rising and Great 
Western Development policies, when it comes to the haves and 
have-nots, the Olympics may further highlight the rich-poor gap 
rather than alleviate it. 
 
RANDT