The officially licensed, limited issue jade Fuwa debuted Tuesday morning at the Gongmei Emporium in Wangfujing.

The worldwide issue of the jade Fuwa is limited to 2,008 sets, with each set valued at 290,000 yuan. Each set has a serial number and set no. 0001 has been donated by BOCOG to the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City.

Set no. 0112 was presented to lifetime honorary chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch, by Mr. Liu Qi, BOCOG president, during the recent 13th World Olympic Collectors Fair in celebration of the 112-year history of the Olympic Games.

The jade Fuwa set comprises five Fuwa figurines of jade and one jade ruyi piece, a Chinese ornamental object that symbolizes good luck. Hetian jade from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, considered China's "national jade," is used for the jade Fuwa and ruyi, and each piece in the set is a different color.

(BOCOG July 4, 2007)