"One World, One Dream" - for decades to come these four simple words will be unmistakably linked to the 2008 Olympic Games.

And they were first uttered in their role as official slogan of the 2008 Games in the capital yesterday.

"'One World, One Dream,' is an embodiment of the wisdom of hundreds of thousands of people," Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), said in his address.

"It is a slogan that conveys the lofty ideal of people in Beijing as well as in China to share the global community and civilization and to create a bright future hand in hand with people from the rest of the world.

"It expresses the firm belief of a great nation, with a long history of 5,000 years and on its way towards modernization, that is committed to peaceful development, a harmonious society and people's happiness," Liu said.

Said IOC President Jacques Rogge in a letter to the BOCOG on hearing of the slogan: "The Olympic Games are unique in their ability to attract the world's attention, using sport to promote peace and understanding.

"The IOC is delighted that BOCOG's slogan for the 2008 Olympic Games has captured that Olympic spirit."

"The slogan sounds very good," said an Italian journalist covering the ceremony. "It conveys the wish of Chinese people to join the world."

"Although the slogan is simple, it has rich meaning," said another spectator. "It shows the significance of friendship. Since the Olympic Games is a world sports gala, it builds deeper friendship among all nations."

The new slogan shifted the focus from the city itself to the three concepts of the 2008 Games Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics and the universal values of the Olympic movement.

Official interpretation of the slogan

"One World One Dream" fully reflects the essence and the universal values of the Olympic spirit - Unity, Friendship, Progress, Harmony, Participation and Dream. It expresses the common wishes of people all over the world, inspired by the Olympic ideals, to strive for a bright future of mankind. In spite of the differences of colour, language and race, we share the charm and joy of the Olympic Games, and together we seek the ideal of mankind for peace. We belong to the same world and we share the same aspirations and dreams.

"One World One Dream" is a profound manifestation of the core concepts of the Beijing Olympic Games. It reflects the values of harmony connoted in the concept of "People's Olympics", the core and soul of the three concepts - "Green Olympics, High-Tech Olympics and People's Olympics". This pursuit of harmony, be it between man and nature, among peoples, within society and in development, are long cherished dreams of ours. It is our belief that peace and progress, harmonious development, living in amity, co-operation and mutual benefit, and enjoying a happy life are the common aspirations of people throughout the world.

"One World, One Dream" is simple in expressions, but profound in meaning. It is of China, and also of the world. It conveys the lofty ideal of the people in Beijing as well as in China to share in a global community and civilization and to create a bright future, hand in hand with the people from the rest of the world. It expresses the firm belief of a great nation, with a long history of 5,000 years and on its way towards modernization, that is committed to peaceful development, a harmonious society and people's happiness. It voices the aspirations of 1.3 billion Chinese people to contribute to the establishment of a peaceful and bright world.

The English translation of the slogan is distinctive in sentence structure. The two "one"s are perfectly used in parallel, and the words "World"and "Dream" form a good match. The slogan is simple, meaningful, inspiring, and easy to remember, read and spread.

In Chinese, the word "tongyi", which means "the same", is used for the English word "One". It highlights the theme that "all Mankind lives in the same world and seeks for the same dream and ideal".