BOCOG announced on Thursday that it would offer cheaper Olympic tickets to young Chinese people.

The announcement was made at the 88th BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad) Executive Board meeting.

According to BOCOG, the Olympic education-related ticketing program will focus on the school children involved in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Education Program and the young athletes of the same age-group. The tickets to the opening/closing ceremonies are not included.

The decision was made in accordance with a request by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and in reference to the practice of previous Olympic Games.

With the aim of spreading the Olympic spirit and carrying out in-depth Olympic education, the ticketing program will create a favorable environment where the Chinese youth will be able to experience the power and beauty of the Olympic Movement and to open their eyes to the world.

The meeting also heard reports on the preparatory work for the 7th World Conference on Sports and Environment, the project for the design of image and look of the Main Press Center (MPC) and the International Broadcast Center (IBC), and the appliances to be used in the victory ceremonies.

The meeting was chaired by BOCOG President Liu Qi, who is also member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and secretary of Beijing Municipal CPC Committee.

Present at the meeting was also Chen Zhili, state councilor and BOCOG first vice-president.

(BOCOG September 21, 2007)