Beijing on Wednesday issues a regulation to promote volunteer service and protect volunteers' rights especially during the impending Olympic Games.

The regulation, approved by the 12th Beijing Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee, specifies the rights as well as obligations of volunteers, including their priority to get assistance, the access to education and training and so on.

It said that if either the volunteers or the volunteers' organization requests an agreement, they should sign a written contract. A formal contract is required if the volunteers are involved in more than three-months full-time service or do work with higher risks.

In addition, the regulation has for the first time stated a cost-sharing mechanism, saying a foundation for voluntary service will be established to subsidize volunteers and provide incentives for outstanding voluntary work.

Legal experts believed the regulation will standardize the working system of volunteers and create a more favorable social atmosphere for voluntary service.

In a different story, Shanghai on Wednesday started to solicit volunteers' logos and slogans for the 2010 World Expo. The closing date for entries is April 30, 2008 and the selection process is slated from early June to the end of July next year.

Xu Weiguo, deputy Party secretary of the Coordination Bureau for the Shanghai Expo, estimated that during the six-month-long event the demand for volunteers is expected to reach several hundred of thousands of people.

About 25.11 million people have registered as volunteers since China issued a regulation on volunteer registration management last year, the Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL) said on Wednesday.

December 5 marks International Volunteers Day. Beijing kicked off a week-long international exchange program on volunteers' work, inviting representatives from 12 countries and regions to share experiences with domestic volunteers group.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2007)