"The final countdown will begin," said Ambassador Sebastian Wood as deputy secretary of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) Zuo Zhiyong and Beijing Olympic women's 78kg judo champion Yang Xiuli joined him at the ceremony.

"An exciting year of outstanding sporting and cultural events in Britain will set the stage for the greatest [sport] show on earth next summer."

"With one year to go we are on track to deliver on every one of these commitments.

"Britain stands ready to welcome the world to London."

Echoing London's festivities ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games, the Chinese British Embassy has launched a programme called UK NOW that will bring the best of British culture, music, performances and arts to Beijing and around China over the next six months.

As the Games draw near, London Olympic Games ticket sales are now in progress under the COC, with tickets available online at the Caissa Touristic website - the exclusive official ticket sales agent for the country.

Caissa is planning to unveil a series of travel products and services, such as a package of match-watching services, visa applications for the Games and an Olympic tour of the United Kingdom.

Wood reminded Chinese citizens who want to go to London to watch the Olympic Games that they have to think ahead and submit their visa application in good time to allow for the 15-day procedure to be completed.

"The number of Chinese people travelling to UK is growing," he said.

"The British Embassy issued 14,200 visas in a single week for Chinese people going to the UK recently, which is a new record and shows the demand is increasing.

"For Chinese athletes and officials to the London Olympic Games, we will have a special procedure for visa applications, but for the public, we will adopt the normal visa system."

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