XINING, Northwest China, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The construction of the rock-climbing field has got under way in the preparation for the 2009 climbing world championship in China's Qinghai province.

    One of the contractors for the Bird's Nest, Chongqing Zhongti Company, is in charge of the designing and construction for the rock-climbing field.

    The construction is expected to finish in early June, according to the organizing committee of the 2009 climbing world championship, kicking off on June 30th.

    "The design of the artificial climbing wall for this year's championship is unique, combining both ethnic characteristics and state-of-art design concepts," said Jidi Majia, vice governor of Qinghai province, on Friday. Many ethnic groups including Tibetan, Hui, Mongolian, Tu, and Han inhabit in the province.

    The design won positive responses from the International Federation of Sport Climbing, or IFSC. IFSC, Qinghai Sports Administration and Qinghai provincial government co-host the championship, the first major climbing event staged outside Europe.

    The Qinghai world championship is set to kick off in Xining, the provincial capital, from June 30 to July 5.

    Located on the northeast part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Qinghai, dubbed the Third Arctic Terrain, is considered a great place for mountain and rock climbing by many fans from home and abroad. The province has also hosted the climbing world cup for three years since 2006.

    As a biennial event, the championship has been hosted in Europe since the first edition in Frankfurt, Germany in 1991. The last one was in Aviles, Spain, 2007.