"The Shanghai expo will be a suitably-themed world expo held in a well-chosen city of an appropriate country," Shanghai Mayor Chen Liangyu said recently during an interview.

The eastern municipality filed its application under the theme of "Better city, Better life" to the Bureau of International Exposition (BIE) in 1999, competing with Moscow, Russia, Queretaro, Mexico, Wroclow, Poland and Yeoso, Republic of Korea.

As the BIE is to announce the winner at its 132nd general assembly in December 2002, Shanghai residents and people from other parts of China are offering the city their unconditional backing for hosting the large-scale, global, non-commercial event to promote the exchange of ideas and world development.

Statistics show that 86 percent of the citizens of this, the world's most populous nation, are aware of Shanghai's expo bid, and 90 percent of those surveyed are supportive of the action.

This extremely enthusiastic expression of public support, combined with China's rapid economic growth, huge market potential and Shanghai's first-rate infrastructure, strengthen Shanghai's competitive edge in its bid for the 2010 World Expo.

"A world expo being held in Shanghai will not only further the development of China's economy but also promote social and economic progress in developing nations of the world," said Chen Liangyu.

In the course of China's reforms since the late 1970s, Shanghai has drawn global attention due to its strategic port location and booming economy.

So far, some 20,000 investors from nearly 100 countries and regions across the world have made direct investments in this coastal city, making the locality attractive to multinational corporations and established financial institutions worldwide.

It is expected that the Shanghai Expo will attract 70 million visitors, and that direct investment for the event will exceed three billion US dollars. Shanghai would like to share the business opportunities generated by the Expo with the rest of the world, added Chen.

By 2010, the number of passengers using Shanghai-based Pudong and Hongqiao international airports will total 50 million annually, with the capacity of the city's rail network reaching 45 million passengers per year.

Meanwhile, a 650-km freeway network connecting Shanghai and cities in the Yangtze River Delta will be able to accommodate 40 million people by 2010, and more than 100 bus routes in the city will greatly facilitate World Expo transportation, according to Chen.

Local officials say the top-level exhibition will provide a golden opportunity for Chinese cities to learn from their foreign counterparts about urban development, as well as to show the world China's achievements in the areas of economic and social development.

Economic dynamism, an open social atmosphere and distinctive cultural features make Shanghai an ideal location for the expo bid, according to BIE secretary-general Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, who has visited Shanghai many times.

Neighboring localities have also demonstrated their strong support for the city's world expo bid. An embroiderer from the scenic city of Suzhou, in east China's Jiangsu province, worked for five months to reproduce an embroidered icon of Jesus, the original of which won an award at the World Expo held 87 years ago.

The director of a comb factory, which won the silver medal at the San Francisco Expo in 1915, says, "We are going to present combs from Jiangsu's Changzhou city at the 2010 World Expo if Shanghai gets the bid."

The expo's main venues will be situated along both banks of the Huangpu river, which runs across Shanghai, and which will become the city's centers for economic, technological and cultural exchanges following the 2010 Expo, said Shanghai officials.

In view of the fact that foreign visitors have been impressed with Shanghai's previous successes in hosting a series of high-level international meetings, such as the Fortune Forum in 1999 and the APEC summit meeting, the city is well-prepared for the forthcoming 2010 World Expo.

"China is a place where miracles are created," said Shanghai mayor Chen Liangyu, whose city is expected to present the world with a miraculous world expo in 2010.

( September 20, 2002)