Record numbers of people have signed up to volunteer for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing. Officials predict that numbers will keep climbing.

"By Monday, about 556 000 people from home and abroad have applied," said Liu Jian, director of the Beijing Olympic Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group Office. Lius Volunteer Office encouraged all Beijing citizens to volunteer for the Games. "It would be an enriching experience", he said.

Approximately 100 000 volunteers are needed for the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympics Games in 2008, according to official statistics released earlier this year.
About 95 percent of them will come from Beijing, while the rest will be drawn from other parts of China and the world. That left only about 1000 vacancies for the international volunteers.

The remarks were made at a signing ceremony of a three-year project to strengthen volunteering in China through the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The project will also provide training to about 10 000 Olympic volunteer leaders.
United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the United Nations Development Program in China jointly funded and organized the project.

"The world will see the remarkable dedication of volunteers at the Games next summer", said John Floretta, UNV's Program Manager in China.