Asian Games to speed Guangzhou development

The 2010 Asian Games will speed the economic development of host city Guangzhou, mostly through employment, tourism and consumption.

Investment for the event will add 815 billion yuan (US$120 billion) to local GDP, said Yin Tao, director of the Institute of Industrial Economy and Enterprise Management at the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences.

The Asian Games is expected to create 475,000 jobs as well.

The southern city expects about 150,000 foreign and 500,000 domestic tourists to visit during the Asian Games, which will run from Nov. 12 to 27. They are expected to bring income of about 542 million yuan (US$80 million) and 1 billion yuan (US$148 million), respectively.

Added consumption is expected to generate about 1.9 billion yuan (US$280 million), resulting in a 4.5-billion-yuan (US$665 million) increase in local GDP.