A song created by two Shanghai musicians was picked on Saturday as the theme song for the 2007 Special Olympic Summer Games.

The song, "We Share One World," was composed by Hao Yonggang of the Shanghai Jindun Art Troupe, with lyrics by Qian Wujie of the Fudan University art center. It expresses the public's pride in the Special Olympic athletes, encouraging them to do their best in the games.

The event's executive committee collected theme song submissions from September 25, 2006, to November 30. Altogether 573 works were submitted by composers from all over the world.

Public voting ran from July 20 to August 5 on three Websites: the games' official site (www.2007specialolympics.com), the Shanghai Oriental Publicity Education Service Center (www.dfxj.gov.cn) and Shanghai Civilization Website (www.wmsh.gov.cn), along with voting by people from 200 community schools and 100 community culture centers.

The song selection was announced at a charity cocktail party for the games by three Shanghai-native sports figures: basketball star Yao Ming, Olympic gold medal hurdler Liu Xiang, and table tennis star Wang Liqin.

The party featured a charity auction at which a painted T-shirt created by Special Olympic athletes and carrying Yao and Liu's signatures was sold.

More than 1.3 million yuan (US$167,525) was raised in the event and donated to the games, which run from October 2 to 11.

(Shanghai Daily August 13, 2007)