All cities that play host to sporting events trot out economic impact studies. It’s a way to justify huge infrastructure and facilities costs.

But these Beijing Games have had a vast and deep economic impact on Beijing and China, even if a post-Olympic “adjustment” is likely, according to a report issued today by the Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association.

Chen Jian, executive president of the Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association, told journalists today that Beijing’s economy has heated up even more than China’s national economy during the seven years leading up to the staging of the Games.

From 2003 to 2006, Chen said, Beijing’s average annual growth rate was an eye-popping 12.35 percent, or about 2.2 percent higher than the rest of the country. He attributes one percentage point of that growth directly to the Olympics.

Beijing’s economy also is growing because of a transition to a service economy, an influx of new residents and the city increasingly becoming a magnet for the world’s wealthy.

By the end of 2008, per capita GDP in Beijing will rise to $8,000, which is double what it was in 2001, the year the Games were awarded.

Like the promoters and organizers of sports events and facilities in North America, Chen claimed that the Olympics have “upgraded the Olympic City’s recognition and reputation in the world, which will have significant impacts on the development of relevant industries.”

He said, “Beijing will not follow the same disastrous path,” as other Olympic cities and nations. Construction projects that have centered on Beijing will move to other cities and jobs will go with them.

Among investments to be continued beyond the Games, Chen’s report said, are more rail transit, more telecommunications infrastructure and a commitment to enhance the financial services industry in the city.

One concern: rising real estate prices, some of which have quadrupled in recent years.