China has launched a nationwide campaign on the Olympics since the country won the hosting bid for the 2008 Olympic Games on July 13, 2001.

The campaign has helped popularize the Olympic knowledge and promote the Olympic spirit among the youth and broaden the students' view and awareness of the sports event, said Gao Hong, vice director of the Basic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE).

"It (the campaign) also works to encourage the students to be more involved into the various sports activities and preserve the cultural heritage of the Games," Gao added.

During the Campaign, 556 model schools have been established including common and secondary schools, vocational schools, special education schools, and multi-ethnic schools.

A "heart to heart" Partnership Program were initiated as a part of the campaign, and more than 210 primary and secondary schools in Beijing have been partnered with 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and 160 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs).

The program is composed of exchanging activities, greeting activities in the Team Welcome Ceremony at the Olympic Village or Paralympic village and cheer leading activities for their partner delegation at the competitions venues.

The campaign also successfully integrated Olympic education into school's normal education, using the school curriculums to improve education on Olympics and established "an Olympic education mode based on schools".

"Most importantly, the campaign works effectively to promote the self-inspiration of the students to better involve into the Olympic Games," said Zhang Tiedao, vice president of the Beijing Academy of Educational Science.

MOE statistics said, in the past seven years, about 400 million Chinese young people, especially 230 million primary and secondary students have involved into the campaign.

"This is a great program. It makes the spread of Olympic values in China much wider than any other country in the world," said the Olympic Review, the official publication of the International Olympic Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2008)