China shares bright future in "landmark" Games

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Olympic Games will showcase its desire to join the rest of the world in building a bright future, Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Monday four days before it was to begin.

The Beijing Games would prove that the world's most populous country and now its fourth-largest economy aimed to share the benefits of its development, he said.

"It is also our hope that through the Games we can show the world the sincere aspirations of the Chinese people to share the benefits of development and to join with the rest of the world in building a bright future," President Hu said.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the Beijing Games would be a "landmark event" that would bestow a great legacy on China, whose tremendous potential and challenges would be on show for all to see.

"The changes that are occurring in China are a microcosm of the changes in the rest of the world," Rogge said at the start of the IOC session ahead of Friday's opening ceremony.

"We are about to experience a magnificent Olympic Games," said Rogge. Beijing would see more countries and more women competing than ever before.

Two hundred and five countries will be taking part, compared to 201 at the Athens Olympics in 2004, according to the IOC's website.

Rogge said about 45 percent of competing athletes at the Beijing Games were female -- an Olympic record. In Athens, the figure was just under 41 percent. More than 10,000 male and female athletes are in Beijing.

"One billion television viewers are expected to watch live coverage of the opening ceremony on Friday. The Beijing Games will significantly advance our goal of universality and fair play in several ways," the IOC president added.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; writing by Douglas Hamilton; editing by Jon Bramley and Ralph Gowling)