Application period for Olympic-volunteers for Beijing 2008 officially opened

On the 28th of August The Beijing organization committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) officially declared the start of the time frame for the application procedures for voluntary helpers to work at the Olympic Games 2008 in the Chinese capital.

It is expected that 70 000 Olympia-Volunteers and further 30 000 volunteers for the Paralympics, which also will take place in Beijing, shall be recruited. Students from Beijing and around will constitute the major part; further places are available for applicants coming from the remaining main land of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. In addition, a number of places were reserved for Chinese people who live in foreign countries as well as for ordinary foreigners.

The volunteers will be asked primarily to help within the areas reception, translation, transport, security, medical services, cultural activities and overall care of the spectators.


The application period starts for inhabitants of Beijing on August 28th 2006 and will end in March 2008. All interested applicants from other Chinese regions have still to wait until December this year before they can submit an application. The organisation committee provided a special internet site (volunteers.beijing2008.com) and an information hotline (86-10-12308), that both deal with all matters concerning application.

Requirements for application are: a minimum age of 18 years, expertise in the areas for which help is needed, readiness to obey Chinese law and regulations, and knowledge in foreign languages. Applicants should also possess personal competencies such as social responsibility, supporting of ethical standards, independency and some experience in volunteering work.

While they will be working at the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing, it is assured that the volunteers will be provided with insurance, clothing, travel expenses and meals. They are to receive furthermore, depending on their efforts and resulting success, remuneration according to the work done. All volunteers who arrive from outside of Beijing have to bear costs for travel and accommodation by themselves.

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