During his six-day trip, which includes a visit to the central Henan province, MrNathan will be watching the swimmers, shuttlers and table tennis players in action.

On Friday, the President will meet his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, for talks.

The first stop for Mr Nathan yesterday was the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium. There, he cheered on Singapore's badminton mixed doubles pair of Li Yujia and Hendri Saputra as they took on Denmark's world No 5 pair of Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl.

The Singapore duo were quickly overwhelmed by the Danes' speedy play and lost 12-21, 14-21 in 29 minutes.

Li said: 'Our opponents were very good all-round players. They got into their stride much faster and we could not catch up, speed-wise.'

Yesterday's loss in the mixed doubles completed the exit of Singapore's five-member badminton squad from the Games.

Mr Nathan, however, praised Li and Hendri for putting up a 'good show', and encouraged them to try for the Games again in four years' time.

The President added: 'The most important thing is the experience of coming here and playing against the more formidable teams.

'(Swimmer) Tao Li is small in size, but she is competing against giants. She did very well.'

Mr Nathan will tour the Olympic Village today, where he is expected to meet more members of Team Singapore.