Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao lit a cauldron to officially start the relay after receiving the flame from a line of dignitaries including Paralympic fencer Jin Jing (pictured) and Liu Qiu, head of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee.

 

Also present at the ceremony were Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, and Zhou Yongkong, a senior official of the Communist Party of China.

 

Britain's Sir Philip Craven, the chairman of the International Paralympic Committee, said: "This flame will symbolise over the next 10 days the unique sporting spirit portrayed by Paralympic athletes.

 

"This spirit overcomes many obstacles in the pursuit of sporting excellence."

 

An original plan for the torch to visit Vancouver, London and Sochi, the next three host cities of the Olympics and Paralympics, was scrapped amid fears that it could spark similar protests to those that scarred the journey of the Olympic torch earlier this year.

 

Up to 4,000 disabled athletes from around the world will compete in the Paralympics.

 

Beijing has been undergoing a transition in the 12 days between the end of the Olympic Games and the start of the Paralympics, which open on September 6 with a ceremony in the Bird's Nest Stadium.

 

Posters, emblems and mascots are being changed in the 13 competition venues, the Media Village and the Olympic Village, which is being remaned the Paralympic Village.

 

A squad of 206 British athletes are due to compete in 18 sports and will be hoping for a top three finish in a medals table that China are expected to dominate, just as they did in the Olympics.

 

ParalympicsGB Chief Executive and Chef De Mission for Beijing, Phil Lane,
said: "Our final preparations are being put in place and our athletes are ready to prove themselves on the biggest sporting stage for elite athletes with a disability.

 

"TeamGB’s fantastic performances will inspire our athletes, I’m sure, to win medals for Britain and our athletes will now be looking to continue that success through the Paralympic Games."

 

Britain’s sailors were the first to arrive in China, having been in Qingdao since last Thursday.

 

The rest of the British squads will then travel to the Far East ­ many via the ParalympicsGB holding camps in Hong Kong and Macau ­ over the next week before transferring to the Village.

 

The sport of rowing makes its Paralympic Games debut in 2008 and GB will be represented in the football tournaments for the first time since 1992.

 

Among the squad for Beijing are several returning Paralympic champions across the sports including archer John Cavanagh, 800 metres runner Danny Crates, swimmer Gareth Duke and cyclists Darren Kenny and Aileen McGlynn.

 

There are also several multi-Paralympic Games medallists aiming to add to their personal medal hauls in Beijing, including swimmer David Roberts, who has the potential of winning five Paralympic golds to beat Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson’s record of 11 and equestrian Lee Pearson, who has never been beaten in a Paralympic Games.

 

Two former Paralympic swimming champions ­ Sarah Storey (nee Bailey) and Jody Cundy ­ travel to Beijing for their Paralympic cycling debuts, with the hopes of repeating their past form from the pool on the track in China.

 

At the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, Britain finished second in the medal table with a total of 35 golds, 30 silver and 29 bronze medals.