GEORGE E. KILLIAN, president of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), and his wife arrive in Shenzhen this evening (Aug 30)  for a five-day tour of Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

Killian will inspect various sports facilities in Shenzhen and will be briefed on the planning of the Universiade City in Longgang District during his stay here. He will also meet students and staff members of Shenzhen University.

Shenzhen has made a bid to host the summer Universiade in 2011. The host city will be decided in January 2007.

Killian will be in Guangzhou on Friday.

Killian has been invited to visit the two cities by Zhang Xinsheng, vice minister of education and president of the Federation of University Sports of China.

Born April 6, 1924 in New York, the United States, Killian once coached basketball teams in Wharton High School, and Erie County Community College in Buffalo, New York. He has been a sports administrator for decades and has been president of the U.S. delegation to the Universiade three times. Killian became FISU president in 1999.

"Killian has an inborn sense of human relations. He knows how to make those around him comfortable and can motivate long- and short-term commitments," says the introduction about him on the FISU's Web site.

Shenzhen: City of sports

SHENZHEN ranks first among Chinese cities in the number of people playing sports, with more than 45 percent of its adult population taking part in sporting activities at least three times a week. The city has more than 5,000 sports venues.

Nov. 1 was made the city's Jogging Day 26 years ago and November is the Month for Sports. Jogging Day has attracted an increasing number of participants every year. A record 750,000 people jogged on the day last year, compared to 120,000 in 1996.

England soccer superstar David Beckham is eyeing Shenzhen as an option for his soccer school, saying in an e-mail sent to the Shenzhen Municipal Sports Administration earlier this month that Shenzhen is a very good place to develop soccer.

University sports are also booming in Shenzhen. Liang Qun, a young teacher at Shenzhen University, has successfully scaled Mt. Qomolangma. The football team of Shenzhen University participated in the football matches of the 23rd Universiade in Turkey and won second place in the Pan-Pacific Games. In 2004, the martial arts team of Shenzhen University participated in the Hong Kong International Martial Arts Festival, pocketing seven golds, one silver and one bronze. In 2005, Shenzhen University's taekwondo (TKD) team won five golds, four silvers and one bronze in the Asia College TKD Championship.

Local athletes have set 14 world records and 14 national records. Yi Jianlian, Sun Caiyun, Tang Hua and Feng Jing are among the world-class athletes from Shenzhen. Since 1986, Shenzhen has hosted 133 major domestic and international sports events.

Editor: Wing