The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) said on Monday that the slogan for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be officially announced on June 26.

Wang Ning, director of BOCOG's Culture and Ceremonies Department, told a press conference Monday that the unveiling of the slogan is one of the highlights of this year's Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival, which is slated for June 23-July 16.

"We will announce the slogan at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Cultural Festival on June 26," said Wang.

BOCOG launched a global search for an Olympic slogan in January this year and received more than 210,000 entries from home and abroad. After several rounds of selection and revision, a slogan each in Chinese and English was picked.

"The slogan is the fruit of collective wisdom and work because none of the 210,000 entries meets our requirements," said Jiang Xiaoyu, BOCOG executive vice president.

"New Beijing, Great Olympics" was the slogan Beijing used during its Olympic bid. BOCOG had said that the focus of the new slogan should shift from the city itself to the three basic themes of the

Beijing Games, namely "Green Olympics", "High-tech Olympics" and "People's Olympics", and to the universal values of Olympic Movement, such as peace, unity and friendship.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Cultural Festival, held annually from 2003 through 2008, will feature art performances, exhibition of calligraphic works and paintings, concerts and Olympic forums.

"It will be a showcase of Beijing's splendid cultural heritage and the citizens' enthusiasm for the 2008 Games," said Wang.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2005)