Preparations for next year's Olympics have helped fuel an economic boom that has pushed Beijing's output per head above the US$6,000 mark, a city official said on Wednesday.

"Hosting the Olympics has had, and will continue to have, a profound impact on the economy of Beijing," Yu Xiuqin, spokeswoman for the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics, told a news conference.

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Yu said that in 2006 Beijing city had posted 12 percent annual growth in gross domestic product, which now stood at US$6,210 for each of the city's 15.5 million permanent residents -- double the level in 2001, when the city won the right to host the Games, and more than three times the national average.

Beijing is investing an estimated $40 billion in upgrading its creaking infrastructure in time to welcome the world for next August's sporting extravaganza.

Nine new lines are being added to the city's archaic subway system and a host of new roads are under construction, while to the northeast of the city a new 900,000 sq m (9.7 million sq ft) airport terminal designed by Norman Foster is springing up.

Yu was not able to say how much the preparations for the Games was costing Beijing, but she said the city spent 93.5 billion yuan (US$12 billion) on infrastructure in 2006, 53.2 percent more than the year before.

In addition to the infrastructure bill, there is a US$2 billion budget to run the Games and build the 31 Olympic venues, including the iconic 3.13 billion yuan "Bird's Nest" main stadium and the 1.2 billion yuan "Water Cube" aquatic centre.

Yu's agency estimated last year that the Games would lead to the creation of about 1.8 million jobs between 2004 and 2008, including around 430,000 linked to the construction of Olympic venues and related facilities.

Some analysts have cautioned that Beijing's, and even China's, economy could suffer a hangover following the Olympics as the investment frenzy goes into reverse.

Rob Subbaraman with Lehman Brothers has highlighted that Tokyo in 1964, Mexico City in 1968, Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980, Los Angeles in 1984, Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992 all saw sharp post-Olympic slowdowns.

Yu played down these fears and pointed out that the Olympics was just one of several factors behind the fast growth.

"Beijing's economic development has been growing steadily for several years now," she said. "As long as we continue with sensible and positive policies, I'm sure Beijing will continue to enjoy good economic growth."

The upgrading of technology in state-owned industries, huge increases in car and home-ownership and a wholesale shift in spending priorities, which has resulted in the service industry making up 70 percent of output, were other factors, Yu said.

"The consumption pattern for the Chinese people has shifted from food and clothing to real estate, cars, and mobile phones ... this is what is driving our development," she added.