Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai will set up a 24-hour seven-day-a-week hotline for foreign consulates during the upcoming Special Olympics.

The hotline, which will be operated by the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, will answer specific questions and help solve any problems that foreign consulates might encounter with the city or the Special Olympics.

Mayor Han Zheng met consuls general, vice consuls general and consuls from 48 countries yesterday to discuss Shanghai's development and upcoming major events, such as the Special Olympics and the 2010 World Expo.

Han decided on the spot to set up the hotline for the Special Olympics Summer Games which will run in the city from October 2 to 11.

While the city has been preparing for this major event, consulate officials were concerned about details and arrangements for teams, especially for the large teams from some of the major participants.

"There are detailed logistical questions that we cannot solve ourselves," said Susan Gregson, the Canadian consul general in Shanghai. "For example the schedules, the programs for the opening and closing ceremonies and how our people will be meeting senior officials from Shanghai.

"Since we have a large delegation coming from very far away, these problems can give us a good deal of stress," she said, adding that it was important for the consulates to know the right departments that might be able to help.

Her thoughts were echoed by Albrecht von der Heyden, the consul general of Germany in Shanghai, who also asked how customs would handle the equipment some of the teams would bring with them.

The envoys raised a number of other subjects yesterday - how did the city achieve its economic growth, how was it meeting the challenges of human resources challenges and the problems of Shanghai's growing population.

"We appreciated the comments and suggestions made by our foreign friends about Shanghai's social and economic development," Han said, adding that the city government was trying to strike a balance between rapid economic growth and protecting the environment.

He also apologized for any possible troubles that the massive urban reconstruction and metro station projects might bring to visitors.

Shanghai reported a GDP growth of 13 percent at the end of last month but the government still intends to cut the city's energy consumption per unit by four percent this year.