A worldwide competition for the logos was launched in August to mark the one-year anniversary of the Chinese capital being awarded the Games, with Beijing poised to become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Organisers say that the logo will need to reference the Games and broader Chinese culture, with the hope the chosen "identity" will be "globally accepted" and "demonstrate the Chinese image to the world."

"An office has been set up for the design competition," said Chang Yu, head of the publicity department for Beijing 2022, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

"The emblem will be unveiled in the second half of 2017 after the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee complete the procedures of intellectual protection of the design."

Applications can be submitted from November 20 to 30, with a selection panel then due to choose 10 candidate designs.

Beijing 2022 will then select a winning entry, as well as two "back-up" logos.

Logos need to be "inspiring" and easily recognised by domestic and international communities, organisers said, while the designs must "stand up to the requirements of television broadcasters, visual effects and digital platforms".

A series of key words and phrases were given as broad guidelines for designers during the launch of the competition in August.

These include running the Games in a "green, open, shared and honest manner" and the idea of "millions of people participating in winter sports".

"Sustainable development", "cohesion, sport, strength" and "world, reunion, festival" are other phrases providing guidance to designers.