Can you memorize a sequence of 250 numbers in 5 minutes? If not, don't bother to register for one of the knockout rounds of the 2006 China Memory Championship which was launched in Beijing Sunday online.

The championship is co-sponsored by the China Young Pioneers National Working Committee and the China Youth Social Service Center.

Contestants have to memorize figures, names, words, card sequences and dates. According to organizers, the competition tests not just memory but also reasoning, reading and imaginative skills.

This year's knockout rounds -- to be held across China - will be conducted online on www.chinao.tv thanks to ground-breaking new technology developed in China.

The national finals of the memory contest will be held from Dec. 23 to 24 in Shanghai.

Winners of the final will go on to the 2007 World Memory Championships (WMC) run by the World Memory Sports Council.

Sometimes called the Olympics of the brain, the WMC event offers - apart from the contest itself - lectures on accelerated learning techniques, how to develop memory skills and the potential of the brain, and includes exhibits of books and software.

The 2005 championship was held at Oxford, England.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2006)