With the Beijing Olympic Games rapidly approaching, the consumer associations of the Chinese capital and its six co-host cities are gearing up to ensure maximum convenience for all visitors to the Olympiad, it was revealed on July 29. A network between the seven has been created to oversee public complaints and share information on the quality supervision of varied industries.

Beijing's six co-host cities are Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Qingdao in Shandong Province, Qinhuangdao, a coastal town in Hebei Province and Hong Kong.

This cooperation will see consumers become able to seek redress whenever their rights are infringed during their Olympic sojourn. Intra-city complaint services will be put in place to ensure no offence goes uninvestigated, according to Zhang Ming, secretary-general of the Beijing Municipal Consumers' Association.

Consumer associations' sphere of influence used to extend as far as their cities' boundaries, said Zhang, but this new system will streamline services and improve services for the very customers the associations serve.

If a Beijing resident purchases low-quality goods or receives bad service from a hotel in Qingdao during the Olympics, a complaint lodged at the Beijing Municipal Consumers' Association will suffice, Zhang explained.

The seven associations aim to tackle each complaint within seven days, although plans are still being discussed. Moreover, special attention will be paid to unfair regulations carried out by specific industries, including transportation, tourism and telecommunication with severe cases being made public along with the details of those responsible.

Further crackdowns will be made to eliminate inconvenient service quirks, such as noon check-outs in many hotels. "People are forced to eat lunch with their luggage after checking out, which is a major inconvenience," said Zhang.

The Beijing Municipal Consumers' Association will set up several service centers near Olympic venues as well as some of the city's tourist spots. These will be manned with bilingual volunteers, able to speak both Chinese and English.

However, with over a year to go until the Olympics, detailed information about these centers has not been fixed.

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin, July 30, 2007)