Bank of China (BOC) signed with Beijing Organizing Committee for 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) to become the official banking partner of the 2008 Olympics Wednesday in Beijing.

BOC chosen as official partner of Beijing Olympics

BOCOG's vice president Jiang Xiaoyu told a press conference that BOCOG decided to select BOC as the banking partner after "a thorough investigation and all-round evaluation".

BOC, one of China's four major state-owned commercial banks, will provide sufficient finance and other forms of support for the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, BOCOG, the Chinese Olympic Committee, as well as Chinese sports delegations for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and 2008 Summer Olympics.

"It's another important step in Beijing Olympics' market development. I believe that the cooperation between BOC and BOCOG will play an important role in ensuring a successful Olympics," Jiang added.

Germany's Volkswagen Group became the 2008 Olympics' automobile partner last month.

The negotiations with potential Olympic partners in other fields are going smoothly and BOCOG is soon to unveil new partners, according to Jiang.

"We will continue to enthusiastically welcome the participation of foreign and domestic companies in the 2008 Olympics," he said.

BOC's deputy governor Hua Qingshan said BOC is honored to get involved in the 2008 Games, which shows the BOCOG and society's trust in them.

Reports said BOC is gearing up to gain stock market listing. BOC expressed in May its confidence in dropping its non-performing loan ratio to below 6 percent while raising its capital adequacy ratio to above 8 percent at the year end, a threshold for share sales.

China's State Council has poured a total of 45 billion US dollars, using the country's massive foreign currency reserve, into the BOC and China Construction Bank to help them raise capital in cash.