Rogge said: “We had two outstanding candidatures from two fantastic cities.

"Both expressed the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games and both were capable of staging the event.

"We are looking forward to working with Nanjing, and are confident the Youth Olympic Games in 2014 will be a success."

Nanjing, the former capital of China before the Communist Revolution in 1949, was the firm favourite to be chosen by the IOC after they received a glowing report from Evaluation Commission last month.

Their biggest advantage was that they already have 21 of the 25 venues needed to host the event, with all of them located within 30 minutes of the proposed Olympic Village.

Rogge promised to establish an IOC Coordination Commission to assist Nanjing throughout its preparation period.

He said: "The preparation period for the second summer edition of the Youth Olympic Games will take four-and-a-half years, which will allow Nanjing to match both the expectations of the IOC and the athletes in producing a programme of sport, culture and education that is of the very highest standard."

The inaugural Youth Games will be in Singapore in August.

The first winter version of the Games will take place in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2012.

The Mexican city of Guadalajara withdrew as a candidate last month because of financial reasons.

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