Han Ximin
A DELEGATION of senior officials headed by Rustam Minnikhanov, prime minister of the Rupublic of Tatarstan, an autonomous republic in west-central Russia, arrived in Shenzhen yesterday to see how Shenzhen is preparing for the 26th Summer Universiade.
The visit was regarded as an important step for the republic to learn from Universiade organizers how to stage a successful international games for university students, after Kazan, capital of the republic, won the right to host the 27th Summer Universiade in 2013 in May this year.
“I’m particularly interested in the Shenzhen government’s arrangements for sports venues, infrastructure construction and traffic management and hope it can provide an overall schedule for the 2011 Summer Universiade for our reference,” Minnikhanov said in an interview after meeting Vice Mayor Liang Daoxing and other officials of the Executive Office of the Organizing Committee for the Shenzhen 26th Summer Universiade.
“Shenzhen is a young, prosperous city full of energy and aspirations, and I hope I can gain an all-round understanding of the city’s preparation for the Universiade during my trip before working out our plans for the 2013 Games,” said Minnikhanov.
He said Shenzhen had set a good example in its preparation in terms of the promotion of venue construction, marketing and organizing an annual Universiade-related cultural festival.
“I think Shenzhen has set a good example for us and I hope our preparation can reach the same level as that of Shenzhen,” said Minnikhanov.
Kazan was among five cities — including Kaohsiung, Poznan in Poland, and Murcia in Spain — to compete for the right to host the 26th Summer Universiade. Shenzhen won the right at an executive meeting of the International University Sports Federation in Turin, Italy, in January last year.
The Republic of Tatarstan is located in the center of the East European Plain and lies between the Volga River and the Kama River, and extends east to the Ural mountains.
It has a population of nearly 4 million, most of whom are ethnic Tatars and ethnic Russians, along with significant numbers of Chuvash, Mari and Udmurts.