Greece, which successfully hosted last year's Olympics, is to share its know-how with China, the host of the 2008 Games, the Greek government said.

Greek Public Order Minister Georges Voulgarakis left for China Tuesday at the head of a large delegation that included Greek police chief Georges Aguelakos and former head of Olympic security Vassilis Contantinidis for an official four-day visit during which he will sign a "memorandum of cooperation on security issues for the Olympic Games in Beijing."

The agreement is based on the "transfer of experience and know-how that the Greek police acquired during the programming and application of the model of Olympic security," read a statement from the public order ministry.

Athens spent 1.2 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) on Olympic security. It deployed more than 100,000 security personnel -- outnumbering athletes by almost 11 to one -- amid worldwide concerns of possible terror attacks at the world's premier sporting event.

NATO boosted Greek security measures after the March 11 train bombings in Madrid killed nearly 200 people.

(China Daily via agencies November 2, 2005)