BOCOG was established on December 13, 2001, and is responsible for organizing and executing preparations for all operations of the two Games in Beijing. The BOCOG Executive Board has ultimate leadership and decision-making authority. To run "high-level Olympic Games with distinguishing features," the Supervision Commission of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad was set up at the same time as BOCOG was formally established. The commission's role is to exercise independent and overall supervision of preparations for the Beijing Olympic Games as well as over the BOCOG staff, its expenditures and revenues, and procurement of goods and materials for the Games. At present, BOCOG has 25 functional departments, all operating effectively to prepare and develop critical plans and programs required for the Games' success.

Functional Areas and their Responsibilities

1. General Office

Responsible for coordination and liaison between BOCOG and various government departments and agencies as well as other co-host cities, the BOCOG internal administration activities and the management of city operations projects for the Beijing Olympic Games.

2. Project Management Department

Responsible for the compilation, project management and adjustment of overall development plans for the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympics. It is also responsible for providing services for BOCOG's decision-making activity and for organizing and coordinating BOCOG's risk management programmes.

3. International Relations Department

Responsible for liaison and communications efforts with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), national Olympic committees (NOCs), regional Olympic committees and other Olympic Family members as well as providing other relevant services.

4. Sports Department

Responsible for the organization of all sports competitions of the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympics.

5. Media and Communications Department

Responsible for information preparation and news release activities, media relations and general publicity as well as the contents of the BOCOG official website and the Olympic education efforts and programmes.

6. Construction & Environment Department

Responsible for the coordination and supervision of the Olympic venues and facilities construction and relevant environmental protection issues.

7. Marketing Department

Responsible for all fund-raising activities associated with the Beijing Olympic Games, the conduct of marketing activities, which include the sponsorship programme, licensing programme and the ticketing programme; and the implementation of the IOC's marketing plan within the jurisdiction of the Chinese Olympic Committee.

8. Technology Department

Responsible for providing the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympics with necessary technical services and support in effectively maintaining competition records, information, telecommunications and other operations.

9. Legal Affairs Department

Responsible for the management of the contracts and other legal affairs of BOCOG and the protection of the Olympic Games' intellectual property rights.

10. Games Services Department

Responsible for accommodations, transportation, accreditation, catering and spectator services as well as the operations of the Olympic Village and other venues for the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympics.

11. Audit and Supervision Department

An administrative institution of the BOCOG Supervision Commission, the department is responsible for supervising the use of BOCOG's funds and materials as well as the performance of its staff and their honesty and self-discipline.

12. Human Resources Department

Responsible for the organizational set-up and human resource management of BOCOG, the recruitment, training and management of the BOCOG staff and volunteers.

13. Finance Department

Responsible for the compilation and management of BOCOG's general budget, annual budget and accounting, and the execution of Beijing Olympic Games' financial risks management, logistics management and procurement.

14. Cultural Activities Department

Responsible for the organization and implementation of the Olympic youth camp and various ceremonies as well as other Olympic cultural activities, and the design and management of the look and image of the Beijing Olympic Games.

15. Security Department

Responsible for security affairs and maintenance of public order during the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympics.

16. Media Operations Department

Responsible for logistical planning and operations of the main press centre, the international broadcast centre and the venue media centres. Also charged with providing equipment and services to accredited news media personnel.

17. Venue Management Department

The Venue Management Department (VEM) is a functional department in BOCOG which is in charge of coordinating, promoting and fulfilling venue-oriented management and also the game-time venue operations. During the preparation phase, VEM is leading the managing work as well as planning and coordinating all the competition venues and non-competition venues as a whole in order to facilitate the venue-oriented tasks. During the Games time, VEM will be part of the Main Operations Center (MOC) in managing the team operations at every site. Meanwhile, the coordination among various departments during the transition period from Olympics to Paralympics on the venue operations is also VEM's responsibility.

18. Olympic Logistics Center

Olympic Logistics Center is to provide materials and services for Olympic Games, Paralympic Games and the relative activities. It is mainly responsible for the material planning, and for the procurement, storage, distribution, tracking, management, retrofit and disposal of all the materials for hosting and staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

19. Paralympic Games Department

Responsible for making plans for the preparatory work of the 2008 Paralympic Games; Facilitating the preparatory work and monitoring implementation of plans; Liaising and communicating with the International Paralympic Committee(IPC), International Paralympic Sports Federations(IPSFs), International Organizations of Sports for the Disabled(IOSDs) and the organizations for the disabled in China; Providing guidance and suggestions on Paralympic-specific work; Assisting in training, promotion and advertisement of the Beijing Paralympic Games.

20. Transport Department

The Transport is responsible for transport services and traffic management for Olympic Family the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

21. Olympic Torch Relay Centre

The Olympic Torch Relay Centre is responsible for the planning and implementation of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay, including relay cities liaison, route arrangement, torchbearer operations, ceremonies, celebrations, public relations, media communications, image design, marketing, brand management, security, laws and regulations, logistics and transportation.

22. Accreditation Department

Responsible for the accreditation of Olympic Family Members, Paralympic Family Members and the workforce participating in Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

23. Opening & Closing Ceremonies Department

Responsible for drawing and implementing the work program as well as the organizational and operational policy for the opeining and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, and forming working teams for the ceremonies to ensure the smooth integration of the processes that include the creation, production, rehersal and the final implementation of the schemes.

24. Olympic Village Department

Established in Nov. 21, 2006, the Olympic Village Department is responsible for the preparation and operation of the Olympic Village of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Its main task is to prepare the Olympic Village; to formulate and implement the service standards, operation policies and master plan of the Olympic Village project; to coordinate the preparations and operations carried out by related departments; and to supervise the Olympic Villages in the co-host cities.

25. Ticketing Center

Responsible for ticketing production, sales, delivery, ticketing operation for the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympic Games.