The torch will be taken to Tiananmen Square for a ceremony to welcome it to Beijing, which is hosting the 2008 Summer Games in August.

The torch's passage was through Greece last week. On Tuesday, the torch goes to Almaty in Kazakhstan, its next stop on a tour of 20 countries before returning for the opening of the Beijing games on 8 August.

Hundreds of schoolchildren turned out at Beijing airport, waving flags as the Air China plane arrived. Students and workers sang the Olympic slogan "One World, One Dream" and waved pom-poms.

Security was tight in the centre of Beijing, with the flame due in Tiananmen Square later in the day.

Minos Kyriakou, president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, passed the flame to chief Beijing organizer Liu Qi.