China confident of winning Expo bid
( 2002-11-22 10:07 ) (1 )

China is confident that Shanghai will win the bid for the 2010 World Expo, a Chinese official said yesterday.

Lin Ning, deputy director of Exhibition Department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, who is in charge of the bidding work in Beijing, said the holding of the 2010 World Expo in China, the most populous country in the world, would help expand the Expo's influence.

The 151-year-old World Expo is the leading international showcase for economic, scientific and technological developments. It is a global and non-commercial event aimed at promoting the exchange of ideas and world development.

The Chinese Government announced in December 1999 it would support Shanghai's bid for the 2010 World Expo. The winner will be decided in a vote by the 132nd General Assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) on December 3.

Shanghai filed its application with the theme of "better city, better life" to the BIE in 1999, and is competing with the Russia's capital of Moscow, Queretaro of Mexico, Wroclow of Poland and Yeoso of the Republic of Korea.

Shanghai is a famous international metropolis, which has had an annual economic growth rate of more than 10 per cent for the past 10 years.

"A world expo in Shanghai will give the world a chance to know more about China's culture, and greatly expand the influence of the World Expo in different nations," Lin said.

First held in 1851 in London, the World Expo has never been held in a developing country.

If Shanghai wins the bid, the event will attract more people from developing countries, because China is the largest developing country in the world, Lin said.

Statistics show that with an annual increase of 20 per cent in the number of large international exhibitions, Shanghai has held nearly one exhibition a day after China's entry to the World Trade Organization.

Statistics also show that 90 per cent of the Chinese people support the city's Expo bid, while 93 per cent of Shanghai residents support the bid and 86 per cent of Shanghainese are willing to volunteer for the Expo.

Many multinationals and domestic enterprises have also thrown their support behind Shanghai's bid to host the World Expo.