They come from eight different countries but have one thing in common: A love for China. Their understanding of the country is profound; their commitment, uplifting; their vision, inspiring; and passion, contagious.

And they moved many as they articulated why they deserve to be the eight foreigners privileged to carry the Olympic torch in China.

Thursday, they were unveiled by computer maker Lenovo as the eight expats nominated after a month-long online campaign.

Applicants were asked to submit a profile justifying their candidacy, then frogmarched through a public online vote. After that, a selection panel made up of Lenovo Group officials and China Daily executives had the final say.

In a bid to restrict the winners to one per country, and keep the program as cosmopolitan as possible, two Americans were axed from the final list despite garnering enough votes to secure a place.

The eight foreign residents who will each carry the torch for 200 meters on Chinese soil next year are, in order of winning votes: Jenny Bowen of the US, Marcos Torres of the Philippines, Werner Ebel of Germany, Meena Barot of India, Yoshitoshi Mizuya of Japan, Luis Hong-Sanchez of Colombia, Yury Ilyakhin of Russia and British-Venezuelan Deirdre Smyth.

Source: China Daily