A month after China sent out invitations to 166 countries and
nearly 50 international organizations to take part in the 2010
Shanghai World Expo, 13 nations and one UN organization have
decided to set up pavilions at the fair.
So far, France, Canada, Ukraine, Bahrain, Mali, Cambodia,
Mauritania, Algeria, the Congo, Hungary, Switzerland, New Zealand
and Cuba as well as the Secretariat of Convention on Biological
Diversity have confirmed they will take part in the event, Shanghai
Vice Mayor Yang Xiong announced yesterday at a press conference in
Beijing.
Organizers say they are very pleased with the response to
invitations so far. The city hasn't set a deadline for confirming
participation.
Yang said many other countries have contacted Expo organizers to
discuss participation and some have appointed Expo commission
generals to coordinate with the local organizers.
"Hopefully, more countries and international organizations will
come to the Expo and join hands with us to turn it into a grand
gathering," Yang said.
There is no word yet on whether the United States will take part
in the event. The US is no longer a member of the Bureau of
International Expositions, but the city is eager to have America
take part.
The government plans to sign up 12 to 20 senior corporate
sponsors for the event, and 10 to 15 partners -- companies that put
up money as well as playing a role in organizing the event. Yang
didn't say how many of those companies will be Chinese and how many
will be foreign corporations.
"We will provide certain preferential tax treatment to the Expo
sponsors," Yang said, adding detailed tax policies will soon be
published on the Expo Website (www.expo2010china.com).
"Our marketing efforts have been warmly received by famous
enterprises from home and abroad so far," Yang said. "We are also
making in-depth contacts with famous enterprises in the
telecommunications, finance, insurance, petrochemical, automobile
and other trades and sectors."
He credited the warm response to the Expo to its "theme of
global concern," central location in downtown Shanghai, and strong
marketing plan.
The theme of the Expo is "better city, better life." As part of
that theme, organizers will invite city government officials from
around the world to exhibit their ideas and plans concerning urban
development and future development tendencies.
Yang said that phase one of the construction of the Expo site is
near completion with the relocation of 18,000 households and 272
companies to be finished by the end of June.
"We are committed to protecting the legitimate rights of the
residents who have to move," Yang said, adding that the housing
where they have been moved to is bigger and better.
Yang said the relocated residents will primarily live in the
Pujiang World Expo residential area and Sanlin World Expo
residential area, which have a total floor space of two million
square meters.
(Shanghai Daily April 25, 2006)
