Beijing Olympic organisers have signed up an additional four cities as official co-hosts of the 2008 Summer Games.

The northern cities of Tianjin, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao and eastern metropolis Shanghai will host soccer matches and enjoy a taste of the infrastructure expansion drive that is changing the face of the Chinese capital.

The four cities would now be hoping their new status would bring urban renewal and renovation as well as international sporting recognition.

A new 80,000-seat stadium would be built in Tianjin, the closest of the cities to Beijing. The expansion brings the total number of cities involved in the 2008 Olympics to seven, including Beijing.