Ridiculed for its authoritarian micro-management, the Chinese government has at least got the job done: the Beijing Olympics is on time and may even turn the biggest profit since 1984. The question is, can London go one better?

Before this month's Olympic Games in Beijing have even kicked off, much of the media has already turned its attention to London, where the Games will be heading in four years' time.

After the initial delight at pipping Paris to the post, it has been a rocky ride for the 2012 organisers. A much-criticised logo, a budget that seems to be spiralling out of control and surveys showing how little Londoners care about hosting the Games have all dampened public enthusiasm, before the Games are even out of the starting blocks.

Following the Chinese was always going to be a tall order. Yes, there have been plenty of bizarre reports of things such as "cheering squads" who have been taught special celebratory routines, or hostesses trained to smile showing just a regulation six to eight teeth. But aside from all the micro-management, a remarkably smooth operation has been taking place.

When Beijing Airport's new terminal, built for the Olympic Games, was unveiled in February, it was twice the size of Heathrow's Terminal 5. But it was built for half the cost and in a third of the time. And even though costs of labour and materials are cheaper than in the UK, the amount of cash allocated to the preparations in China is staggering. While there are already moans and complaints at London's total budget being expected to hit £9.3bn, Beijing set aside £6bn just to clean up the environment, with air quality a major concern.

"What you have to understand is that China is an authoritarian state and when the leader says 'go' you go," says Anthony Shang, general manager of Red Bee Media China, a UK media and design agency. Shang has witnessed the preparations first-hand, after Red Bee won the commission to provide CCTV, China's state television, with an identity for the Games. "What I have seen here is very impressive," he says. "The government has recruited a huge army of volunteers who have been trained in a very short period of time to be Olympic ambassadors and the public have very much been behind the project."

So what lessons, if any, can government and businesses learn from what promises to be a defining modern Games? And with just over four years to go and a spiralling budget already three times the original, is there any chance that London can be as successful?

Comparing the Beijing Games with London 2012 is difficult, concedes Shang, not least because everything in China is so centralised. He believes the biggest lesson London 2012 can learn from China is to encourage total commitment and cooperation between the different authorities involved. "In the UK, things could get bogged down in bureaucracy," he warns. "Having lived in London for many years I worry about the laissez-faire attitude."

He may have a point. While the campaign started well in 2005, after former London Mayor Ken Livingstone and the bid team won in Singapore, there has since been a split in public opinion.

The new Mayor,  Boris Johnson, has stated his ambition to stage a successful Olympics and is focusing on the escalating budget. He's appointed a businessman, co-founder of Carphone Warehouse David Ross, to represent him on the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). On releasing his report into the Olympic budget in June, Ross said: "Whether the billions of public money now being invested in the Olympic projects are seen as value for money stands and falls on the legacy that London as a city inherits."

At the heart of that legacy stands a commitment to make the UK a world-leading sporting nation and to transform the east London area. According to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), for each pound spent on the Olympic Games, 75p will go towards regeneration, affordable housing and first-class sports facilities.

In China, there has been a more political aproach. As Shang says: "China wants to use the Olympics as a stage for its opening up to the world, it wants to demonstrate it is a modern and civilised nation that is beginning to respect civil rights and that there is a much greater sense of freedom than 10 or 20 years ago." Controversy was inevitable, claims Shang: "The Tibet issue will continue to haunt China because there is a risk of nations boycotting the opening ceremony—already some leaders have said they won't attend and that is an embarrassment to the leadership," he says.

Ignoring all negative publicity, China has concentrated on getting ready on time. Of the 31 competition venues in Beijing, 12 have been built from scratch, including the iconic 91,000-seater "Bird's Nest" Stadium. China hopes to host the Asian Games in the near future and, having emerged as a strong sporting nation in recent years, all the stadiums will be put to good use in staging international competitions as well as cultural events.

"From the Chinese authority's point of view they can definitely justify the return on investment," says Shang. "All of the facilities have been built on a fraction of the London budget and in the end the government will leave a legacy and some beautiful stadiums," he says. "In London, it could turn out to be an economic nightmare."

Arguably, LOCOG will be doing its utmost to avoid anything of the kind. Miles Templeman, director general of the Institute of Directors, claims the long-term plans for the facilities are paramount: "What we desperately want to avoid is a lot of investment going in and then a year later everybody saying, 'Well, that really wasn't worthwhile; it hasn't regenerated, it hasn't created infrastructure that we'll use.' The most important thing is to use the investment as wisely as possible," he says.

"We are right to be concerned that too much is being spent on the London Games and it is going to cost everybody too much. It comes back to the fact that we don't mind spending if the legacy is very strong."

To ensure a successful event, continues Templeman, businesses across the UK, not just in the south-east, need to be involved: "We need to maximise the involvement of companies of all sizes and also on the volunteering side so this is not seen as just the London Olympics, but the UK Olympics."

For its part, the ODA has established CompeteFor, an online matching service listing all the contracts that are up for tender from the ODA and LOCOG. All suppliers are contractually obliged to use the CompeteFor site to list any opportunities that may come up in their supply chain. "For example, construction group Skanska is involved in some of the structure, bridges and highways work and it has a security guarding contract which it has put on the system," says Morag Stuart, head of procurement for the ODA.

So far, more than 18,000 businesses have registered on CompeteFor and of those, 78 per cent are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with less than 50 staff, while 98 per cent have less than 200 staff. Around 650 companies have won contracts worth £2bn and according to Stuart they are expecting many more over the next year.

She advises interested businesses to register their interest now. "If you are not registered you will miss out on potential contracts within the Olympics supply chain and the more businesses are registered, the greater the diversity," she says.

A lot has been done to make sure the regions and devolved nations are involved, adds Stuart. "Geographically, 30 per cent of the businesses registered on our system are from London, so that means 70 per cent are from outside. That is a huge amount from outside the capital."

She believes the regions are excited about the London Games because they can see the opportunities. "People are starting to pick up on the fact that soon it will start to escalate."

Back in Beijing, the sense of civic pride is palpable. "There has been a massive campaign to clean up the city and wherever you go there is a very strong Olympic message," says Shang. "Whether it is on the radio or on outdoor signage or television, you get the sense that there is a concerted effort right across the board to be ready for the Games and welcome all foreign visitors."

While the UK government is unlikely to ask for regulation smiles or for office staff to work from home in a united attempt to ease air pollution at London's Games, the ODA and LOCOG would do well to try and emulate China's efficiency. Because once this summer's closing ceremony is over, all eyes will be on London. The pressure is on.