China's Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang's track shoes fetched 200,000 yuan (US$25,000) at a charity gala auction in Beijing on Sunday, breaking his own record made at a similar event two weeks ago

The running shoes, autographed by the 110m Olympic title and world record holder, were just one of many items donated to raise money for the schooling of migrant workers' children.

The shoes were bought by Air China, which donated another 600,000 yuan at the charity gala jointly held by the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) and the China Central Television (CCTV).

Another pair of Liu's track shoes was bought at a charity auction for disabled and injured athletes on Jan. 21 for 150,000 yuan.

Broadcast live for 17 hours on CCTV, the auction collected a total of 3.39 million yuan for the charity fund founded to assist migrant children, whose schooling in cities has caused great concern in the country.

Retired diver Xiong Ni's gold medal from the 2000 World Diving Championship fetched 1.28 million yuan, the biggest sale at the auction.

China's first astronaut Yang Liwei and world champion diver Guo Jingjing also had their valuables auctioned at the charity gala to contribute to the fund.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2007)