Updated：2007-08-07

Liu Qi and Rogge presents flags to volunteers.

(BEIJING, August 7) -- Volunteers for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games took a mass pledge on August 7 at the south square of the Beijing Olympic Tower to mark the one year count-down to the Games.

Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), together with Jacques Rogge, president of International Olympic Committee (IOC), conferred the volunteer representatives attending the ceremony a banner that reads "Beijing Olympic Volunteers."

A commemorative cover was also unveiled by Chen Zhili, State Councilor and the BOCOG First Vice-President, and Hein Verbruggen, Chairman of the International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission for the Beijing Olympic Games at the ceremony.

Liu Qi and Rogge wrote epigraphs respectively for the release of the commemorative cover: "Smiling Beijing, Volunteers' Olympics" and "Volunteers represent the Olympic spirit."

Officials from Beijing, BOCOG and IOC attending the ceremony adorned "Smiling Ring" for volunteers. An oath was chanted by the volunteers, After the ceremony, volunteers rode bicycles to leave for the "Good Luck Beijing" sport events venues and neighboring areas to publicize Olympic knowhow and clean street garbage.

Held on one year countdown to the Games, organizers said that the mass pledge is aimed at arousing people's ardor to work as volunteers of the Olympic Games as well to encourage more volunteers to participate in training and non-profit activities in the preparation of the Games.

The event was jointly hosted by BOCOG, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and the Beijing Olympic Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group. More than 600 representatives of "Good Luck Beijing" sport games volunteers, Beijing Olympic Games volunteers and applicants of city volunteers appeared the ceremony.

Statistics indicated that about 750 volunteers will work at the city volunteer stations around the "Good Luck Beijing" venues.

An overall pattern of the voluntary work that includes six projects and one themed programme has taken shape since June 5, 2005 when the volunteer recruitment drive for the Beijing Olympic Games started. Volunteers will take part in a series of voluntary activities, such as the preparation for the Games, Games-time services, city volunteer project, society volunteers, the transformation of volunteer heritage as well the "Beijing's Smile" project.

By July 30, a total of 560,000 people have applied to work as volunteers for the Beijing Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. Among the applicants, about 300,000 are from Beijing, more than 200,000 others from outside Beijing; and enrolment for volunteers in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas regions has reached 30,000. Moreover, the number of people who applied to work as city volunteers in Beijing has surpassed 270,000.

Starting from August, the Olympic volunteers will take part in various non-profit events as well voluntary services for the "Good Luck Beijing" sport events. It is estimated that about 15,000 volunteers will work for the "Good Luck Beijing" sport events.

Following a mechanism that combines the work of venues with that of the local authorities where the venues locate, volunteers are mainly chosen from corresponding universities and volunteer applicants; in addition, some volunteers were also selected from suburb Beijing, people from outside Beijing as well as from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas Chinese.

About 150 city volunteer service stations will be set up in Beijing to provide information, emergency service and translation services during the upcoming "Good Luck Beijing" sport events. As a heritage of the Beijing Olympic Games, about 500 volunteer service stations will be kept for a long period after the ending of the Games in 2008.

Li BInghua hosts the ceremony.

Officials at the ceremony

Volunteers wear the smile wristlets.

Volunteers take oath.

Volunteers leave for service sites.

A group photo