The solicitation starts on December 6, 2005 and ends on February 2, 2006, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad （BOCOG） announces today at a press conference held in the Beijing Olympic Media Centre.

　　“Our concepts of the torch design are 'glory and dream, tradition and modernity, culture and harmony',” Zhang Ming, deputy director of BOCOG's Culture and Ceremonies Department, said at the press conference. “Design proposals for the Beijing Olympic torch are supposed to artistically interpret the rich connotation of the concepts.”

　　Submissions are also expected to display the distinguishing features of the Beijing Games, namely “Chinese style, cultural splendor and contemporary spirit”, and to fully demonstrate the vitality and passion of the torchbearers, according to Zhang.

　　BOCOG also requires that the proposed designs should be original and creative, and the torch could be presented with state-of-the-art technology.