"We welcome all companies, home and abroad, including Taiwanese companies, to share the business opportunities brought about by the Olympics," said Yang, the spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

This year, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) will mainly focus on recruiting suppliers for the Paralympic Games and suppliers of sports equipment, he said.

"BOCOG sticks to the fair, just, open and transparent principle of selecting partners, sponsors and suppliers for the Olympics," he said, noting 61 domestic and foreign companies including Taiwan-funded companies have become partners, sponsors or suppliers for the Olympics.

Yang said the torch relay route across Taiwan was arranged according to agreement reached by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC).

The route has been approved by the International Olympic Committee, he added.

"The mainland hopes Taiwan authorities will not let politics interfere with this event and carry out the consensus reached to fulfil the wish of Taiwan compatriots to see the flame pass through Taiwan," Yang said.

CTOC chairman Tsai Chen-wei confirmed in March that the Olympic flame would fly from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Taipei and leave for Hong Kong after the relay in Taipei.

The BOCOG on April 26 unveiled the 137,000-kilometer torch relay route for the 2008 Olympics, including a stop at Taipei.

But some of Taiwan's pro-independence officials immediately rejected the route, claiming the plan "belittles" Taiwan.