Just one day after Yanjing Beer was named the domestic beer sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Tsingtao Beer, another leading Chinese brewery, joined the elite club.

This means the 2008 Olympics have three sponsors in the beer category as Busch-Anheuser Budweiser signed last year as the international beer sponsor to support the Games.

It is against the established principle in Olympic marketing that only one enterprise can be selected as the sponsor and enjoysexclusive marketing rights within the designated product category.

"This is an exception," said Yuan Bin, director of the Marketing Department of BOCOG.

"The IOC and BOCOG jointly decided to give all three enterprises the sponsor status in light of the special situation,"she added.

Yuan didn't elaborate on the "special situation".

According to Yuan, the three breweries enjoy the same rights and obligations.

Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd, headquartered in Qingdao, the coastalcity that will host sailing events during the 2008 Games, will provide funds beer products and related services to the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, BOCOG, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese sports delegations to the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics and 2008 Olympics.

"Tsingtao Beer, a hundred-year old brand name, has made great contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and the restof the world in the past century," said Wang Wei, BOCOG's Executive Vice-President and Secretary-General.

"With presitgious enterprises such as Tsingtao Beer to activelysponsor and support the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, we feel more confident of running a successful games."

Jin Zhiguo, Chief Executive Officer of the Tsingtao Brewery Co.Ltd, said at the signing ceremony that sponsoring the 2008 Olympics will help Tsingtao Beer promote its brand in the process of globalization.

"Tsingtao Beer has always had the vision of becoming a leader in the global beer industry, and sponsoring the Beijing Olympics is an integral move for Tsingtao Beer to achieve its globalizationdreams," said Jin.

The Marketing Plan of the 2008 Olympic Games includes partnership, sponsorship, suppliership and licensing programs. Partnership, sponsorship and suppliership grant enterprises four-year exclusive marketing and promotion rights, while the licensing program authorize companies to produce and sell productswith the official Olympic logo only after paying royalities to BOCOG.

BOCOG has signed ning partners so far, including Germany's automobile giant Volkswagen, Sinopec, CNPC, China Mobile and Bank of China. It started to seek sponsors this March and is scheduled to launch its supplier-seeking campaign by the end of this year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2005)