- Wang Hui:
Good Morning, ladies and gentlemen of the media! Now the routine press conference has been changed to the morning session because we know you have some important events to attend later today. Today's topic is very important. As you now know, the Beijing Olympic tickets have been well received by the whole world and have sold well. The first two phases have been sold, so now we will proceed to the third phrase. Today we'd like to brief the journalists about the third phase. Nobody has had a chance to see the shape and format of the tickets of the Olympic Games before.
2008-04-23 09:42:48
- Wang Hui :
Now we have invited the following people: Mr. Zhu Yan, Director of the Ticketing Center, BOCOG; Ms. Sun Ying, Deputy Director of the Beijing International Media Center; and Mr. Wang Min, Dean of the School of Design of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Director of the Olympic Art Center. They will have a lot to talk about. After this part of the press conference, we will address two more housekeeping topics. First, we will brief you on non-accredited journalists' accreditation work. The second topic is the Beijing Olympic 100-day countdown celebration and related activities.
2008-04-23 10:04:55
- Wang Hui :
First of all, I would like to give the floor to Mr. Zhu Yan. He will now brief you on phase 3 ticket sales policies.
2008-04-23 10:06:07
- Zhu Yan :
I am happy to address you about the following issues, the first is the ticketing and then together with our designers, I'd like to showcase to you the Olympic tickets. Not long from now, ticket holders will receive these tickets. Now I'd like to brief you on the first issue concerning the domestic ticket sales program and its policies.
2008-04-23 10:06:43
- Zhu Yan :
Starting from 9am, May 5 to June 9, 2008, BOCOG will launch the the Phase-3 Domestic Olympic Ticket Sales Program. During this period, the public can buy tickets of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at designated Bank of China (BOC) ticket outlets or by logging on to the official ticketing website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The number of the ticket outlets during this stage will be fewer than that offered during the previous two phases. For further details, please log on to the official ticketing website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games or call the Olympic ticketing call centre at 952008.
2008-04-23 10:07:06
- Zhu Yan :
Similar to the first two phases, only applications from individual buyers will be accepted during the third phase of the Program. Group applications will therefore be considered ineligible. Applicants will use their valid ID cards for registration purposes (further details are available at the official ticketing website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The purchase limit is two sessions per application and three tickets per session.
2008-04-23 10:09:56
- Zhu Yan :
It is worth pointing out that tickets sold during this phase will be allocated uniformly on a real-time basis, regardless of the ticket purchase channels used. If the ticket of a certain price range requested by an applicant for a certain Olympic match is marked as available in the system, it will be reserved for the appropriate applicant for a specified period of time. In the event that the applicant fails to make the payment within the specified time limit, the ticket will be released to other applicants. Tickets for the people with disability and their companions will be sold in the manner of telephone reservation via the Gehua Ticketmaster Ticketing customer service platform.
2008-04-23 10:15:09
- Zhu Yan :
According to BOCOG, a total of 1.38 million Olympic tickets will be released during the 3rd phase. Tickets released cover 16 Olympic sports which are subdivided into 17 disciplines and 244 matches. They include: athletics, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe/kayak-flatwater, mountain bike, equestrian, football, handball, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, softball, marathon swimming, volleyball and wrestling. In addition, tickets of accessible seats totally 20,000 will be offered for all matches involved.
2008-04-23 10:20:41
- Zhu Yan :
As for the Olympic ticket design, it is marked by a distinct theme and a harmonious color. The tickets are therefore ideal collectibles of the highest aesthetic values. Taking the "Cloud of Promise" as the core image, the Beijing Olympic ticket is designed to be a perfect combination of the traditional Chinese culture and the Olympic spirit.
2008-04-23 10:22:18
- Zhu Yan :
The design of the sample ticket was initiated as early as 2006. The design has been carried out, in stylistic terms, in accordance with relevant Beijing Olympic Games image requirements and embodies a consistent adherence to the main themes of the Beijing Olympic Games – "Hi-Tech Olympics, People's Olympics, Green Olympics". Technical details of the Olympic ticket, including the format and the information shown, are configured in strict conformity with relevant regulations set out by the IOC.
2008-04-23 10:24:35
- Zhu Yan :
In addition, information shown on the ticket of the Beijing Olympic Games is more comprehensive and easier to identify in comparison with that of previous Olympic Games, owing to a series of innovations where due emphasis has been placed on the actual conditions of China. With reference to the selection of the ticket design and printing materials, a host of experts in related fields were invited by BOCOG and a large number of dedicated debates and considerable creative endeavors have been undertaken in this regard. As a result, the Olympic ticket design showcases stylistic brevity and is emblematic of the Olympic image. Such a ticket design integrates successfully relevant aesthetic and functional considerations.
2008-04-23 10:25:32
- Zhu Yan :
According to a source from BOCOG in charge of the Olympic ticketing program, the ticket of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games integrates various anti-counterfeiting technologies, of electronic or physical nature or otherwise, including microfiche text processing, dynamic holographic safety line and holographic dealuminzation, etc., resulting in a significantly shortened Games-time ticket verification process. Moreover, the application of these technologies is also an effective measure taken against large-scale ticket touting activities.
2008-04-23 10:27:38
- Wang Hui :
Now let's give the floor to Mr. Zhu Yan, Director of the Media and also Wang Min to give us information on the presentation of the newly-designed tickets.
(Ticket's revealed for photographers.)
2008-04-23 10:28:02
- Wang Hui :
Now let's proceed with questions from the reporters.
2008-04-23 10:28:10
- UPI:
I was wondering if you could give us a breakdown of the first two rounds of tickets; how many have been sold in Beijing, how many in other places in China. Can you give us a list of other regions and cities selling tickets and how sales have gone there -- could you give the top 3 or 5 cities in terms of sales, and do you foresee those trends to continue in third round of domestic ticket sales. The second part of my questions is that I don't know if you have the information to answer questions regarding foreign ticket sales, but I'm wondering if, in light of cities seeing protests during the torch relay, have those protests had a negative impact on tickets sales in those cities abroad? Thank you.
2008-04-23 10:32:32
- Zhu Yan :
Thank you for your question. About your first question for the domestic sales, the system is unified so it is very difficult to exactly tell where the buyers are from—whether they are from Beijing or Shanghai or any other place. I think if you want information for the first two rounds of tickets, in the last phase of getting the tickets, quite a number of people chose to get the tickets in Beijing, so we may consider that of the provinces of China, Beijing will have the most tickets sold. That is our very broad judgment for the third phase. For the tickets to be sold on the spot we estimate that the local public buyers will outnumber outsiders who live outside of the city. That information is in accordance with the experience of previous Olympic Games.
2008-04-23 10:33:03
- Zhu Yan :
For the second question -- about sales abroad -- we know that Olympic tickets are very hot products. Especially for some hot spots, in different countries and different regions there have been some differences in terms of hot spots or hot sales because some nations are more interested in some sports. But on the whole, the enthusiasm for the tickets is very high. The main pressure at the moment is to provide more tickets to overseas ticket buyers. Overseas ticket sales are arranged through their local Olympic Games committees or agencies. The selling process is still undergoing changes, and we cannot close the door yet. The Beijing Olympic Committee is still trying to dig out resources for the tickets so as to satisfy the worldwide demands.
2008-04-23 10:34:02
- AFP:
Just a follow up to the second half of the last question: the tickets are indeed very rare overseas. I hear for example from some of the British, Australian and other teams, that they don't have enough tickets for even the families of the swimmers. For example, a 14-year-old diver's parents can't get enough tickets to come over. Do you think there's been a failure for overseas teams to come over here and is there anything you can do about that?
2008-04-23 10:37:00
- Zhu Yan :
Your question is very important but I don't quite agree with your opinion. Let me explain -- for the Beijing Olympic Games, ticket sales are in accordance with the practice of the Olympic Committee in the past. For these Games, we have taken into full consideration the needs of people from outside areas. I can give you an example of this. For example, for the sales of tickets for this session of the Olympic Games, we have exceeded the guidelines of the IOC that there should be over 60 National Olympic Committee Customers.
2008-04-23 10:38:47
- Zhu Yan :
Last time there were a bit over a hundred, but this time we have over 170 National Olympic Committees Customers for the Olympic Games. The IOC policy at this session of the Games made a big adjustment causing us many difficulties. In the past for all sessions they sold tickets in combination of hotspots and less concerned spots, but this time the IOC has, after hearing the opinions from various sides at the initial stage of the tickets sales, required us to try to satisfy the needs of various countries and regions.
2008-04-23 10:39:41
- Zhu Yan :
Next, from the number of total amount of tickets, the structure of ticket sales has been adjusted. As I said, at the moment we have exceeded the Athens Olympic Games for assigning the tickets to the International Olympic Games Committee. Lastly, China is a big country and the Chinese public is also very enthusiastic for tickets. We will try to balance the demands from various sides. Our next step, as we are still opening up the sales, is that we are still cooperating with other National Olympic Games Committees and trying our best to satisfy their demands and needs. As for the details, we still need more communication and cooperation, and we will try our best to make sure to satisfy those people who really need tickets.
2008-04-23 10:41:31
- South China Morning Post:
I'm sure there are other questions to ask about the ticketing system, but I want to ask about anti-counterfeiting measures. It seems there are some very high-tech anti-counterfeiting systems at work here, but at recent test events there were a lot of touts outside selling tickets. Can you give us some numbers regarding the number of people being arrested re-selling tickets that have already been sold, and also tell us what measures will be taken during game time to crack down on touts?
2008-04-23 10:44:23
- Zhu Yan :
Thank you for your question. For these Olympic tickets, just now we showed that in the process of designing we have arranged a series of anti-counterfeiting measures against fake tickets. The general measures make the creation of fake tickets rather difficult and we are quite sure fake tickets will not be created, but if there are low-level fake tickets, I just want to remind ticket holders from the general public that you all need to go to official channels to purchase tickets. Secondly, we will show through the media and our consulting telephones our services to the general public.
2008-04-23 10:46:10
- Zhu Yan :
As for the test events we haven't found fake tickets yet but indeed there are some who are scalping tickets. That has happened. BOCOG has reiterated on several occasions that for the Olympic tickets, we do not advocate the transfer sales and also in Chinese law making a profit from re-sales is forbidden and as far as I know, the relevant government agencies during test events have been cracking down on transfer of tickets. After May fifth, when buyers can get the paper Games tickets, BOCOG will coordinate with other government agencies to crackdown on fake tickets to make sure that sales of good tickets is in order and the rights of ticket holders will be guaranteed.
2008-04-23 10:47:33
- CCTV:
Just now you mentioned that the transfer of tickets will be severely punished, but what if someone wanted to transfer tickets? Also, for the opening ceremony, tickets have been auctioned for 100,000 yuan. The sale of the tickets is rather heated. Are there going to be any reserved? And how many will be reserved? If I haven't been able to buy tickets for several rounds, will it be possible to buy tickets on the spot?
2008-04-23 10:48:03
- Zhu Yan :
We want to reiterate that we strongly oppose the scalping of tickets. Normal transfer is allowed without changing the price. If you want to make money, according to Chinese laws that is illegal. Secondly, I just want to remind the general public that a lot of the online information is not true. Especially for the opening and closing ceremonies, the scalping will be heavier so we will make sure it is a real name system which will not give any room for the scalping. So according to the norms in the Games time in different venues, there will be a ticket sales counter that will continue to sell tickets. It basically depends on phase 3 and international sales. In general, we estimate that there will be some left over but can't guarantee for every session.
2008-04-23 10:50:29
- Bloomberg:
Why is there a decision not to do a lottery for this third phase? What measures are being taken to prevent the same kind of problems that occurred for second phase and what is Mr. Zhu going to do that is different from his predecessor?
2008-04-23 10:51:20
- Zhu Yan :
Well we have got only 100 days or so to go before the Opening Ceremony so for one thing we don't have enough time to have a lottery and to pay the money and confirm and everything like that. We just don't have that much time for that. Secondly if we refer to previous stage ticket sales, we can see some of the tickets that have been sold already and the remaining tickets through the first two rounds of the lottery. Thirdly, we can see that with the efforts of the ticket suppliers we are constantly optimizing this system and increasing our capacities to make more spare tickets. Also having done some tests, we are confident we can satisfy Phase 3 demands but of course will take some measures. We will make public in great detail those phase 3 specificities so you won't spend a lot of time searching on the internet and we will cooperate with the Bank of China to announce at any time when those tickets have been sold already. All of those measures have been rehearsed over the past few days, but hopefully we can provide you with very good service.
2008-04-23 10:52:19
- People's Daily:
Just now Mr. Zhu has been answering all of the questions. I have a question for Wang Hui. Not long ago, foreign media reported that China has demanded all foreign students to leave China during the Olympic Games time. Can you confirm this?
2008-04-23 10:55:20
- Wang Hui :
Well I can answer that question. I have also noticed that the foreign media reported that. And I've noticed some Chinese officials have already answered that this report is not true. I would say the reports are baseless because we did not ask them to leave China, but rather asked them to become volunteers and to participate. Foreign students will continue to be welcomed to China.
2008-04-23 10:56:43
- Bloomberg:
In the first phase and in phase two, the total numbers of tickets sold was roughly 4.8 million and domestic tickets to be sold were 3.5 million. So where are the remaining tickets? The second part of my question is that if I bought tickets during phase 1 when can I have those tickets in my hands?
2008-04-23 10:57:39
- Zhu Yan :
As for phase 1, 2, 3 each phase had some tickets which haven't been sold yet. In addition, with the advancement of new constructions, the number of seats will change. The more we near the Games, the more correct the number, and ticket numbers will be finalized. It's not simple addition. As for the Olympic ticket sales we can say some tickets are for the domestic public and some for different countries and regions. Tickets will be reserved for different committees and different sponsors -- such as the IOC, corporate sponsors and broadcasters. Those tickets are in great numbers, and affect the total amount of tickets available. It's also hard for us to keep track of what tickets are domestic and foreign because you can transfer and give tickets as gifts to others.
2008-04-23 10:58:46
- Foreign Journalist:
There are some sports that are not popular in China. What will you do if demand for the sports is not very high? Will you distribute any tickets for free to students or the elderly, for example unsold tickets for rowing, marathon swimming, and kayaking that are not very popular in China?
2008-04-23 11:01:59
- Zhu Yan :
First of all, in the first two rounds of ticket sales, we sold tickets to all sessions and some are sold out already. Second we do not have ground or free tickets for the Olympic Games but we have educational plans for domestic primary and middle school students with combinations of popular and less popular sports and this work is going on very smoothly. That is all for the ticket release.
2008-04-23 11:03:24
- Wang Hui:
We also want to make a quick announcement for the 100 Day Countdown Celebration. We will arrange activities on the 26th of this month. In Chaoyang Park, we will organize a long walk activity named "Beijing Smile, Volunteers for the Olympics, Building a Harmonious Society". The walk will start at 8.00 am. At that time some 6,000 people will participate in a long walk. That day, the morning of the 26th at 10.00 am, we will organize journalists to go to the Bird's Nest and we will invite some major sports venue media operations officials and directors to brief you on the media service on the Games time and encourage you to visit the main media center in the BIMC to see these two centers which will provide service for the journalists. Starting at 9.00 am we will gather here at the Media Center, and depart from there.
2008-04-23 11:04:21
- Wang Hui:
Next I want to talk about the very day of the 100 days countdown, April 30. There will be three activities. The first is at 9.00 am in the Olympics Center at the Bird's Nest and at the Water Cube, there will be a celebration of the Beijing Olympic Games countdown. We will have marathon running activities with the general public. The Beijing long run marathon will be 13 kilometers and the final 2 kilometers will be participated in by general public.
2008-04-23 11:07:12
- Wang Hui :
Secondly, in the afternoon in Workers' Stadium not too far from there, Smile Beijing will have a musical event for the general public. You're all invited to go there and have a visit.
2008-04-23 11:08:07
- Wang Hui :
At 8:00 pm, we will have the fourth round of Beijing Olympic songs collection and award giving ceremonies. This has been going on for four years. After four years of selections, we will have some awards for the best songs. This is open to the journalists but tickets are limited in number. For all three activities there will be a limited number of participants.
2008-04-23 11:09:10
- Wang Hui :
May 4, as you know, is Youth Day of China and we will all have a half day break. On that day we can organize you to go to Peking University and have some interviews for Olympic volunteers to let you know what they have prepared for the Olympics. This will be the end of my description. Thank you.
2008-04-23 11:10:55
Wang Hui, spokeswoman of the BOCOG
Spokespersons at the press conference
Zhu Yan, director of Beijing Olympic Ticketing Centre
Samples of Olympic tickets displayed
A reporter from CCTV raises questions
A reporter from Wall Street Journal asks questions
A foreign journalist raises questions
Scene of the press conference
