BEIJING -- President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) Liu Qi met with President of the French Olympic Committee Henri Serandour and his party in Beijing on Monday.

Liu Qi (right) presents a souvenir to Mr. Henri Serandour a the end of the meeting.

Extending his welcome to the visitors, Liu said the preparatory work for the 2008 Olympic Games goes smoothly.

BOCOG has received strong support from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the international sports federations (IFs) and the national and regional Olympic committees (NOCs) for quite a long time and BOCOG wants to keep close links with NOCs, Liu said.

Describing France as a country which has made a great contribution to the international Olympic movement and has accumulated a wealth of experience in preparing large sport events, Liu said BOCOG is keen to learn from and draw on France's successful experiences.

"We hope that France will provide valuable advice for us to improve services for athletes and we welcome people around the world, including the French youth, to take part in various undertakings of the 2008 Games," Liu pointed out.

Thanking Liu for the meeting, Serandour said the French Olympic Committee will strengthen cooperation with Beijing in the Olympic volunteer program, television broadcasting and other areas and do everything in its capability to help and support the 29th Olympiad.

Present at the meeting was BOCOG Executive Vice President and Secretary-General Wang Wei.