One day before the unveiling of the emblem for the 2008 Olympic Games, Hein Verbruggen, chairman of IOC's Coordination Commission for the 2008 Games, lavished his praise on the logo Saturday.

Verbruggen, who is in Beijing for Sunday's official unveiling of the emblem at the Temple of Heaven, said the emblem was a "strong one".

"We (the IOC) are extremely pleased with the logo," said Verbruggen.

"Of course we have some problems to understand the characters (on the logo), but even for somebody who isn't able to read Chinese, visually it is strong," he added.

The IOC gave its approval to the emblem for the 2008 Games in March. The unveiling of the emblem, which was originally scheduled for May 25, was postponed due to the outbreak of SARS.

Verbruggen said the unveiling of the logo plays an important role in presenting the Beijing Games to the world.

"The launch of the logo tomorrow is, perhaps, one of the two or three highlights up to the Games," he said.

"I have great expectations for tomorrow night."

IOC marketing director Michael Payne said the unveiling of the logo is key to success of the Olympic Marketing Program.

"The emblem is the first element .... It's just the beginning," said Payne.

"The official emblem is key to the marketing program, by which sponsors associate themselves with the Beijing Games," he added.

Beijing organizers plan to initiate their marketing campaign in September.

(Xinhua News Agency, August 2, 2003)