The popular plush toys of Winter Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen are being restocked to licensed stores to meet the surge in demand, according to the marketing department of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

On Sunday, a new shipment of 2,000 Bing Dwen Dwen plush toys arrived in Beijing, and they will be distributed to licensed stores soon. This week, 35,000 toys will be shipped to Beijing, and up to 100,000 are expected to be available before March 4.

The organizers have also released a special Lunar New Year edition of the Bing Dwen Dwen plush toy. The first shipment is expected to arrive in Beijing on Saturday, and the number in stock is expected to reach 180,000 before the opening of the Winter Paralympics.

The manufacturers will also continue to accelerate production of licensed mascot merchandise including dolls, keychains, water bottles and badges, and they plan to supply an additional 1.5 million pieces online, according to the organizers.

Since the Winter Olympics kicked off on Feb 4, the mascot, a chubby panda wearing an ice shell, has become so popular that all the related merchandise-including plush toys, keychains and dolls-has sold out. People have waited in long lines outside the official Games flagship stores in the capital hours before the stores opened.

In order to meet the surging demand, the Beijing Olympic organizers have said they would increase the supply, and factories resumed work early amid the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday to ramp up production.

Piao Xuedong, director of the marketing department of the organizing committee, said the organizers had prepared a large volume of stock before the opening ceremony, but people's enthusiasm over the merchandise went beyond expectations.

The Games coincided with the Chinese New Year holiday, and manufacturing of the silicone gel that makes up the ice shell of the toy requires a large number of molds and a lot of time. This explains the scarcity of stock and slow replenishment, he said.

According to Piao, this round of restocking will first address the demand of athletes, coaches, media workers and others inside the Games' closed loop, before providing products to customers who have placed presale orders with physical and online retailers.

He said market demand is expected to ease somewhat before the opening of the Winter Paralympics, and then ease further by mid-to late March.

Piao also vowed to ensure an adequate supply. "As long as there is demand, we will keep sending Bing Dwen Dwen to the market until everyone who wants one gets one," he added.

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