19 Jun 2009

China announes profit on Olympics

6:44 pm on 19 June 2009

China made an operating profit of almost $230 million last year's Olympics, according to the National Audit Office.

Most Olympic host cities make money from running the Games -- Athens in 2004 reported an initial operating profit of $240 million -- but the bills for building stadiums and other infrastructure can take many years to pay off.

The state audit office said the profit was more than double the most recent estimate.

Arriving at a final price tag for the Games would involve calculating the cost of closing thousands of factories to ensure clean air during the Games, offset by the value of the international publicity the Olympics generated.