President Hu Jintao lit a cauldron with the Olympic torch in Beijing's Tian'anmen Square yesterday morning, launching the official start of the worldwide torch relay of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Hu then passed the torch to hurdler Liu Xiang, the men's 110m Olympic and world champion, who ran across the Golden Water Bridge in front of Tian'anmen Rostrum.

Thousands of spectators gathered at the world's largest square to welcome the arrival of the flame with a grand celebration which included the performance of Peking opera, folk acrobatics and ethnic dances.