China's Lenovo joins Olympic sponsors club
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-26 16:02

China's biggest personal-computer maker on Friday became the country's first company to join the Olympic sponsorship program.

Lenovo Group Ltd. didn't disclose the financial terms of its sponsorship, but said it will provide desktop computers, laptops and printers, as well as technological support, for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

It is Lenovo's wish to go global, and becoming a global Olympic partner is a golden opportunity for us,'' Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of the Beijing-based company, said at a signing ceremony.

The Olympic Partner program, or TOP, is the International Olympic Committee's highest level of sponsorship. It allows partners to use Olympic intellectual property for worldwide marketing programs.

The program generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for the Olympic movement. Marketing officials say a single four-year TOP sponsorship sells for at least US$65 million.

Other global sponsors include McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Kodak and Samsung.