UP to 1.85 million tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympics will go on sale in China this week, organizers announced yesterday, six months after fans snapped up the first tranche of seats.

The release Tuesday of more tickets will give local fans a second chance to book a place at the Aug. 8-24 Games.

China put 2.2 million tickets on offer for the home market in April and within a month more than a million had sold.

Chinese residents will be allocated tickets on a “first come, first serve basis,” the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) said on its Web site.

In an effort to curb ticket touting, BOCOG has implemented a system requiring buyers to register their personal identities, but already a black market has emerged, with prices soaring for some events.

Chinese fans are paying 25 times the official rate for tickets to see Liu Xiang, China’s 110-meter hurdles world champion, defend his Olympic title at the Games.

Ticket prices for other popular sports are also fetching up to 10 times face value.

Organizers said tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies sold out during the first phase of booking done through a computer lottery system that began April 15.

Seven million tickets will be sold for the 2008 Games, with more than 5 million allocated to the host country.

Each person will be limited to 50 tickets, while sales for some events may be restricted to two purchases only, depending on their popularity.

(SD-Agencies)