London, July 12 : China has said that it will offer up to 50, 000 pounds to anyone providing tip-offs that prevent security threats, demonstrations or attacks on foreigners at next month's Olympic Games.

The Beijing Bureau for Social Order said that it would offer rewards of up to 700,000 Yuan (50,000 pounds) for information on big security threats.

The smallest reward for credible tips on terror attacks, sabotage by "illegal cults" or attacks on foreigners is 10,000 Yuan.

Officials said that they had detained 82 suspected terrorists and cracked five organisations in Xinjiang that had been planning to attack the Games since the start of the year.

Beijing, keen to use the Games to showcase its rise as a modern economic power, has instituted a series of security measures.

A 100,000-strong anti-terrorism force is in place, surface-to-air missiles have been deployed around venues and bag searches are conducted on the underground.

According to The Times and the China Daily, Olympic venues like the Bird's Nest and Water Cube have the strength to resist major natural disasters.

These large steel structures can resist major earthquakes and lightning from thunderstorms, the papers quoted Yang Weiguang, deputy director of the Beijing municipal science and technology commission, as saying. Almost 150,000 tons of steel have been used to build Beijing's Olympic venues, according to official figures.

Solar photovoltaic systems, which can each year generate 580,000 kWh of electricity - the amount used by about 1,000 Beijing residents in one year - have been installed at seven venues, including the Bird's Nest, Yang said.

ANI