SHANGHAI, June 29 -- MICROSOFT China yesterday became the systems and software supplier for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the world's No. 1 software vendor and the games' organizing committee said yesterday.

Microsoft China will support seven information and management systems for the event. Microsoft will also provide the Beijing organizing committee with 24-hour technical support, using about 1,500 engineers, according to Tim Chen, Microsoft China's chief executive.

About 11,000 to 15,000 computers will be used during the Beijing Olympics, Hou Xinyi, deputy director of the technology department for the organizing committee, told Shanghai Daily.

The committee will also use systems from other companies, including Kingsoft's WPS and Oracle's database suite, according to Hou.