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Soft-drink giant Coca Cola, like other major sports sponsors, is keen to be engaged in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and in the various activities leading up to the event.

Coca Cola is discussing with the Chinese Committee of the International Olympic Committee to sponsor the torch relay which will start from Athens, go through the Himalayas and end in Beijing, Peter Franklin, worldwide director of Olympic Management for the Coca-Cola Company, said in Beijing recently while meeting with Beijing IOC officials.

It will be a very interesting experience and will help bring the Olympic spirit to millions of people along the its route, he said, adding the torch relay will also be a good opportunity for China to present itself to the rest of the world as large numbers of journalists will cover the event.

Franklin made his first trip to China just ahead of the first anniversary of Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games.

He said that it is still too far away to talk in detail about activities his company will be organizing for the 2008 occasion, there are surely things that will happen. These include helping people from around the world to China and bringing many Chinese people to Beijing, as well as organizing different types of parties, as they did in previous Games, in order to enjoy the fun that sports can give.

Of the major sponsors for the Games, five, including Coca Cola,have extended their sponsorship contracts with the IOC up to 2008,which means one billion US dollars in funding for the Beijing Games.

According to Franklin, his company's support of the Beijing Games is based on the fact that China is Coca Cola's fourth biggest market in the world today and is growing rapidly. On the average, Chinese people now drink an average of nine cans of Coca Cola every year.

He said the Olympic movement will be boosted by coming to this ancient civilization, and China is expected to make it a sports festival with its own Chinese culture.