Scene of the meeting

(BEIJING, December 20) -- The organizers have worked out the detailed domestic route of the Beijing 2008 torch relay at the street level and have completed the selection of the torchbearers, it was disclosed at a working session in Beijing on Thursday.

The meeting also summed up the progress in other areas: media communication for the torch relay is unfolding gradually; security preparations are advancing steadily; satisfactory results have been achieved in the test run of the holy flame's Mt. Qomolangma ascension; the operational plans and schemes have been worked out; the image and look of the torch relay have been formulated; and the preparations for the Paralympic torch relay are progressing concurrently. In a word, the goal of the current stage of the torch relay for the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics has been met as planned.

As a prelude to the Olympic Games, the torch relay is the most significant publicity activity prior to the Games and an important channel of the public's participation in the Olympics, said Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). He urged all staff members to devote themselves to the preparations through enthusiastic and selfless work.

In the next stage of the preparatory work, Liu said, great importance should be attached to the operational schemes, the work of special teams and the efforts of the local authorities. He stressed the organizational build-up of BOCOG's Olympic flame team, operational team, advance team and command office, and the continuous improvement of the operational plans. The preparations should be carried out under united policies, service standards and working norms, said Liu, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee.

The torch relay should be guided by the principle of frugality and cleanliness, and the funds should be used rationally, with full and independent supervision at key points, Liu said. The torch relay should help boost the local social and economic development, and the popular elite torchbearers should be placed at prominent relay positions to highlight the Olympic spirit, the concepts of the Beijing Olympics, patriotism, reform, innovation and the new image of the Chinese people, he added.

More than 300 people, including government officials and representatives of the provincial organizing committees for the torch relay attended the meeting.

Chen Zhili, State Councilor and First Vice-president of BOCOG, attended the meeting and made a speech.

According to the schedule, the torch lighting ceremony will be held in Olympia, Greece on March 24, 2008 and the domestic route will start in Sanya, a resort city in China's Hainan Province. The torch will arrive at the National Stadium on August 8 to open the 29th Olympiad.