Designated retail shops will begin selling franchised Olympic
items in Beijing next month.
Products available will include clothing, stationery,
handicrafts and other souvenirs in a range geared to meet the
tastes of ordinary consumers as well as collectors. The number of
different items could rise to 10,000 in the near future.
The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX
Olympiad (BOCOG) selected the ten franchisers and seven
retail outlets that are authorized to trade in authentic goods
during the trial period.
The franchisers mainly handle design and production while the
retailers are responsible for sales.
"Consumers who buy these goods from the franchised stores are
also supporting and contributing to the 2008 Olympic
Games," said BOCOG's Yuan Bin
Yuan Bin says the committee will ensure that identical products
are sold for the same prices at all franchised stores.
To prevent fraud, all the commodities are identified by
state-of-the-art anti-counterfeiting technology.
Yuan said that by 2005, the International Olympic Organizing
Committee will authorize the sale of Beijing Olympics products at
overseas franchised stores.
Starting next month, people will be able to buy the products in
Beijing's major shopping venues: Wangfujing and Xidan in the
downtown area; Jianguomen’s International Trade Center, at the core
of the Central Business District; and the Capital Airport.
(CRI.com July 29, 2004)