Sydney certainly benefited from new and additional infrastructure.

It enjoyed a construction boom prior to the Games and the city thrived as a tourist destination with an obvious flow on effect to other parts of Australia.

And just like Sydney, and followed by Athens, Beijing on a much grander scale, has enjoyed the benefit of new and additional infrastructure.

Yet while the Games were never expected to change the culture of the people nor affect the political agenda or direction of Australia, there’s no doubt that the Beijing Games have had a dramatic impact on the local people and more importantly created long lasting positive change in political and government corridors within the Peoples Republic of China.

One of those changes is how Chinese people are vocalising their views to the government. In this issue of Australia China Connections Willy Lam reports on the growing opinions of local Chinese on how the Chinese government should be using its foreign exchange holdings.

Through the Olympics, Beijing and the Chinese Government have strengthened existing and new business, political and cultural relationships with Australia. And on page 14 Rowan Callick looks at one of those areas at the centre of Australia-China relations – the contentious issue of Chinese investment into Australia.

As the world bore witness to Beijing’s opening up through its extraordinary Olympic Games, there is now a concerted government push to increase opportunities in the country’s vast
central and western regions. David Lammie looks at the logistical challenges and opportunities for foreign enterprises exploring options outside of China’s tier one cities to reduce operating costs in China.

The Beijing Olympic Games 2008 did create and present genuine good will by all involved and will present a long lasting legacy. China will continue to prosper long beyond the Games and our relationships will continue to benefit.