The hilly, palm-shaded Mediterranean city of Monte Carlo, long used to the roar of Formula One cars, is tense again with a quite different race this week as delegations from China, South Korea, Russia, Poland and Mexico have converged in the city in hopes of hosting World Expo 2010.

The 100-strong Chinese delegation, led by Vice Premier Li Lanqing, State Councilor Wu Yi and Shanghai Party Secretary and Mayor Chen Liangyu, will make a final presentation for their bid tomorrow at the 132nd assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions.

Later, the 89 BIE member countries will select the host city from five contenders -- Shanghai, Moscow, Yeoso (Korea), Queretaro (Mexico) and Wroclaw (Poland).

The vote will take place tomorrow afternoon and the result will be announced about 3:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Beijing Time).

Shanghai and Yeoso look like the two leading candidates at the moment, although Moscow promises to put up a fierce fight.

Campaign posters for the two favorites can be seen at the local airport, key road intersections and some supermarkets.

Carrefour, a French retail giant with six hypermarket outlets in Shanghai, is supporting the city's bid by displaying posters in its supermarket in this small tourist city known for its gambling casinos.

Shanghai Vice Mayor Jiang Yiren, who arrived on Saturday, sounded confident: "China stands a good chance of winning because it offers a market of 1.3 billion consumers for countries taking part in the World Expo."

Chen has told the BIE officials that more than 70 million people are expected to visit the Expo if it is held in Shanghai, a record number for the Expo, which is considered one of the three largest global events along with the Olympics and World Cup.

The Koreans, however, are equally optimistic. Yoo Jung-suk, a member of the Korean bidding team, said, "Although nobody can be sure of the result, we expect to see a satisfying result thanks to our great efforts combined from the private and government sectors."

The Koreans promised US$170 million in financial aid to developing countries taking part in the World Expo 2010, upping the ante on China's US$100 million offer.

The Russians, whose bid was hurt by a hostage-taking in a Moscow theater in October, are not giving up their bid easily. Sources said they have invited Mikhail Gorbachev to attend the BIE assembly and they reportedly have strong support from many European countries.

The five competing cities have set up promotion booths in the lobby of the Grimaldi Forum, the venue for the BIE assembly. The Shanghai booth features a large dynamic screen showing scenery along the Huangpu River.

A laser harp, invented by the Shanghai Laser Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will play music to participants in the BIE assembly.

The tension of competition is also felt in the three hotels in Monte Carlo as delegations go through final rehearsals today ahead of their presentations tomorrow. The city that gets two-thirds of the votes will become the host of the Expo 2010.

Shanghai TV has rigged up a studio to provide live reporting to audiences eager for news in Shanghai and across the country.

(Eastday.com December 2, 2002)