On the afternoon of June 5, 2005, the Beijing Olympic Volunteer Program was launched in the Beijing Hotel.

   International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacque Rogge, BOCOG President Liu Qi and State Councilor and BOCOG First Vice-President Chen Zhili attended the inauguration ceremony.

   Rogge and Liu jointly unveiled the sign of volunteers for the Beijing Olympic Games. They also made speeches respectively.

   A congratulatory letter from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was also read out at the ceremony.

   Chen presented the volunteers' banners to representatives of volunteers from Beijing and other Olympic co-host cities.

   Volunteers from Peking University and Tsinghua University, who spoke on behalf of all the other volunteers, expressed their passion and determination to participate in the Olympic Games.

   "The Action Plan of Beijing Olympic Volunteers," along with a promotional film on the volunteers program, was formally released at the ceremony.