Liu's shoes fetch $25,000 in charity auction

A pair of Olympic champion Liu Xiang's running spikes fetched 200,000 yuan ($25,770) at a charity auction for the children of migrant workers in Beijing at the weekend, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.

The shoes signed by the 110m hurdles world record holder - China's biggest track gold medal hope for next year's Beijing Olympics - were bought by Air China and fetched 50,000 yuan more than a similar pair at another charity auction last month.

A world championship gold medal donated by triple Olympic champion diver Xiong Ni went for 1.28 million yuan and a total of 3.39 million yuan was raised in the 17-hour televised auction.

The children of the millions of migrant workers who have flocked to China's major cities in recent years are often excluded from the same school and health opportunities as established residents.