There are less than three hundred days left before the start of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The event organizer has opened its first licensed merchandise shop in Beijing.

The 2010 World Expo opened a flagship store on Wednesday on Beijing's downtown Wangfujing Street. This is the only officially licensed shop the 2010 event has arranged in the capital city.

With an area covering over 100 square meters, the shop is selling over 1-thousand different goods. And it also serves as a promotional window for the Shanghai event.

Lin Shengyong, Head of Commercial Management of Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau said "We have developed around 3,000 different products for the 2010 Expo. The Beijing Olympics had 15 categories for 8,000 types of licensed goods. We will try to reach that number before the World Expo opens next year. "

Product prices range from the cheapest costing 12 yuan, to the most expensive costing thousands of yuan. The store is also the first place to sell miniature versions of the China Pavilion. The prices for the Mini China Pavilion vary from 398 yuan to 898. And products for children are also available with items such as the World Expo Mascot toys costing from 35 to 95 yuan.

(CCTV July 23, 2009)