More than 170,000 volunteers will help out at the upcoming World Expo in Shanghai, Expo organizers said Thursday.

The volunteers are from about 40 countries and regions, and most are local university students or long-time Shanghai residents, said Ma Chunlei, director of the Volunteers Department with the Organizing Committee of the Shanghai World Expo.

Some 207 foreign nationals living in China and 83 people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are among the volunteers, Ma added.

Of the volunteers, 72,000 will serve at the Expo Park and pavilions during the Expo period, while almost 100,000 others will work at volunteer service stations in different parts of Shanghai, he said.

The volunteers, now called "volunteers candidates," will begin on-the-job training from mid-April and later be granted certificates to become "official registered volunteers," Ma said.

In addition to the Expo volunteers, authorities in Shanghai will mobilize almost 2 million citizens to offer volunteer services to visitors during the Expo period, he added.

The Shanghai World Expo, which will start on May 1 and last till Oct. 31, is expected to draw 70 million visitors from around the globe.

(Xinhua April 9, 2010)