The ticket sales for the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, will kick off in late February instead of January as scheduled earlier, said an official from the Organizing Committee?in Hong Kong?on Saturday.

According to the news release from the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (GAGOC) last November, the ticket sales were divided into three stages with the first stage starting in Jan. 2010.

"We are still working on the ticketing policy while the internet technicians are doing some adjustments," said Xu Ruisheng, Executive Deputy Secretary General at a launching ceremony for a promoting program in HK. "I guess it would be open in late February."

GAGOC launched the official ticketing website on Nov. 12, 2009 before releasing the whole ticketing plan on Nov. 25, and subscriber registration has been available to public from Dec. 12.

Among the two million more tickets for public sale around the world, 45.3 percent cost no more than 100 yuan (about 14.6 U.S. dollars) while the same percentage in Beijing Olympics 2008 was 58%.

Ticket prices for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Asian Games were also higher than the Beijing Olympics, which ranged from 1,600 yuan (about 234.3 U.S. dollars) to 6,800 yuan ( about 995.6 U.S. dollars).

Deputy Director of the Marketing Department of GAGOC Yuan Yue said earlier that the pricing program was formulated through comparison of ticket prices at previous Olympic Games, Asian Games and other major international sporting events with consideration of the local consumption level and purchasing power.

The host city Guangzhou, located in the southern part of China, was the capital of Guangdong Province, and one of the leading commercial and manufacturing centers of the country. However, it was also one of the areas in China that were affected the most by the global financial crisis from 2008.

The 16th Asian Games, featuring 42 events, will be held from Nov. 12-27, with 12,000 athletes from 45 Asian contries and regions.