Samsung, an official TOP Partner of the Olympic Games in wireless telecommunications equipment, concluded a sponsorship contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on April 23, 2007 at the Diaoyutai State Guest house in Beijing, China. Samsung first became a full sponsor of the Olympic Games during the Nagano Olympic Winter Games in 1998
According to the new contract, Samsung will officially sponsor the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement for the next eight years, through the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in 2010, the London Olympic Games in 2012, the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and the 2016 Olympic Games.
The Samsung-IOC Olympic Games sponsorship contract signing ceremony was attended by Samsung Chairman, Kun-Hee Lee, who arrived in Beijing after a three-week business trip to Europe, and more than 200 officials in sports from around the world, including International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) John Furlong, and London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) Chairman Sebastian Coe.