Officials from the Shanghai office of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation visited the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination yesterday for talks about the company's participation in World Expo 2010 Shanghai.

Zhou Hanmin, deputy director general of the bureau, met the Masahide Konishi, current president and general manager of Mitsubishi Corporation Shanghai and Chikara Yamaguchi, who will take up the president and general manager positions later.

Zhou brought out the master plan of the Expo Site and said he would welcome Mitsubishi's participation in the World Expo with its own company pavilions. He said he also hoped Mitsubishi would contribute to the Japan Pavilion.

Konishi thanked Zhou for the introduction to the World Expo and said participating in the Shanghai Expo has been Mitsubishi's wish for a long time. The Japanese government and companies are now looking for the best way to display themselves in the Expo.

Zhou also introduced the "Urban Best Practices Region" to the guests. He said the international selection had started. The jury will recruit 20 to 30 cities to participate in the region. The first selection meeting will be held in Shanghai on April 25 and 26.

So far, 127 countries and international organisations have signed up for World Expo 2010 Shanghai.