So why are people still worried despite so many gains? Because a clear list of expenditure and revenue has never been forthcoming. The authorities are not known to calculate the revenue after a big event is over, be it the 2008 Olympics or the 2010 World Expo. And even if the revenue may be hard to calculate, the expenditure is always impressive.

The official estimated cost of the 2010 World Expo was about $5 billion, but unofficially the cost has been estimated to be as high as $58 billion. Besides, most of the buildings built for the Expo were torn down after the event. Such short-life buildings constructed at huge costs are a waste of money and resources, and against the global trend of lowering emissions and saving energy.

The National Sports Games held in Shenyang, Liaoning province last year were the thriftiest, with the expenditure on its opening ceremony reduced from 90 million yuan to 9 million yuan. But the games still cost about 2.8 billion yuan, even according to official estimation.

Sports and exhibition galas have indeed improved China's image and enhanced its soft power, but they have also compelled many international observers to doubt whether China is still a developing country, even when the truth is that one out of every ten people in China still lives on $1.25 or less a day. The economic spillover effect of such galas, though highly praiseworthy, hardly reaches the bowls of the 128 million people living in poverty.

It took 19 years of effort before the authorities to allocate the targeted 4 percent of GDP for education in 2013. Millions of rural children rely on the public-funded "3-yuan nutritious lunch" served in schools, and more than 300 million people in China, especially in rural areas, still don't have access to safe drinking water. If more public fund is allocated to these areas, it will not only improve people's livelihood but also boost the local economies.

Vietnam's decision to pull out as the host of the 2019 Asian Games is a big pity. But the potential gains of hosting it will be even much less compared with the Olympic Games or Expo, because it's a much less influential event.

Unprofitable and costly as it would be, the 2019 Asian Games should not be China's game.

The author is an editor with China Daily.

zhuping@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/21/2014 page9)