Commemorative medals of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay were formally put on sale in Olympic stores across the country yesterday.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) announced in Shanghai on Friday that 20,000 sets of the medals would be available, with 2,000 to be sold in Shanghai.

Each set includes a gold and silver medal and is priced at 5,680 yuan ($735.8).

"They will be sold at the 600 licensed Olympic stores in cities that will embrace the Olympic torch relay (including Hong Kong and Macao)," said Li Yakang, deputy chief of the Licensing Division of BOCOG's Marketing Department.

But it is yet to be decided whether they will be sold in Taiwan, according to Li. "It is being studied."

The medals are minted using relief technology and both are 99.9 percent pure. The gold medal weighs 15 grams and the silver 50 grams. They feature images of the "lucky cloud" and "traditional Chinese scroll" as depicted on the Olympic torch.

Li said sales of licensed products of the Beijing Games will derive about 8-10 billion yuan ($1-1.3 billion) in revenue.

"The income is set to exceed the target of 5 billion yuan ($647.7 million)," he said.

Li said the BOCOG has launched more than 4,000 licensed products and the number is expected to increase to 7,000 during the Olympic Games next August. The number of licensed Olympic stores will increase to about 2,000 by then.

The Fuwa mascots and the precious metal souvenirs are the favourites of the public, Li said.

In the next stage, the BOCOG will explore the low-end market by launching products priced below 20 yuan ($2.60) to "meet the demand of more people".

(China Daily