BOCOG Executive Vice President and Secretary-General Wang Wei at the signing ceremony

   (BEIJING, April 26) -- The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the People's Bank of China signed an agreement in Beijing on Wednesday, officially kicking off the Beijing 2008 Olympic Numismatic Program.

   According to the agreement, the Bank will issue Olympic commemorative banknotes and coins in the next three years, including nine gold coins, 14 silver coins, eight base metal coins and one banknote.

   The design of the numismatic products is required to express the Olympic Spirit of "Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger)", embody the theme slogan of "One World One Dream" and the concepts of "Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics, People's Olympics". It reflects the Chinese people's confidence in the success of the 29th Olympic Games and the integration of traditional Chinese culture and modern civilization.

   The Numismatic Program has become a tradition of the Olympic Games with the first coin issued in Finland on the occasion of the Helsinki 1952 Games. Since then, the Games have seen many coin productions, usually based on themes related to sports or art and culture of the host country.

   China has already issued commemorative precious metal coins, pins and gold bars on the theme related to the 29th Olympiad since 2001 when Beijing was awarded the right to host the 2008 Games.

The scene of the signing ceremony