The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) on Monday (Dec 27th) launched a campaign to seek a slogan that will help present the "exciting image" of the 2008 Games to the world.

"The slogan, in both Chinese and English, should be easy to read and remember, and can be understood and shared by people from different cultures," Zhang Ming, deputy director of BOCOG's Culture and Ceremonies Department, told a press conference.

Submissions can be mailed to BOCOG's Culture and Ceremonies Department, or sent via e-mail to wenhua@beijing-olympic.org.cn by the deadline of January 31, 2005, said Zhang.

"The slogan will be unveiled in the first half of next year. A series of promotional activities have also been planned to follow up," added Zhang.

According to Zhang, no prize money will be given to winners, but they can get honorary certificates for their initiatives.

"New Beijing, Great Olympics" was the slogan Beijing used during its bid process. BOCOG hopes a new slogan can reflect the themes of the 2008 Olympics, namely "Green Olympics", "High-tech Olympics" and "People's Olympics", and the universal values of the Olympic Movement as well.

"Previous experiences showed that Olympic slogan is an important platform to promote the sporting event. We hope the slogan will help present the image of Beijing and China to the world," said Zhang.

"Share the Spirit" was the slogan for Sydney 2000 Olympics, "Light the Fire Within" was for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. "Welcome Home" also became a highlight of this summer's Athens Games.

Editor: Wing