Hua Junduo, Commissioner General of the World Expo Shanghai China 2010, stated the latest development of preparations for Shanghai Expo at the 139th Session of the BIE General Assembly held in Paris on June 30 local time.

Respected Mr. Chairman,

Respected Mr. Secretary General,

Respected Delegates,

Ladies and Gentleman:

As the Commissioner General of the World Exposition Shanghai China 2010, I am pleased to meet you here and to carry on my duty for the first time to report to the General Assembly of BIE some aspects of our preparatory work for the Expo. I will focus on the following four parts:

I. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the preparation for the Expo. As early as June 2004, we set up the Expo’s National Organizing Committee, chaired by Madam Wu Yi, Vice Premier of the State Council of China, and composed of 21 central government’s ministries as well as the Shanghai Municipal Government. Soon after the approval of the Registration Report at the 138th Session of BIE General Assembly on December 1st, 2005, the National Organizing Committee met in Beijing and adopted several major documents, such as International Recruitment Working Scheme, Guidelines for Access to the Exhibition Assistance Fund, Marketing Plan, Measures for Donation and Key Points on Preparation in 2006. Plans for the preparatory work in the next stage have also been adopted at the meeting. Thereafter, the Expo’s Executive Committee met in Shanghai, putting into practice the arrangements adopted by the National Organizing Committee.

In order to facilitate the preparatory work for the Expo, China’s Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation have formulated favorable policies on finance and taxation for the Expo. In addition, the State Council issued Regulations on the Protection of the World Exposition Symbols while the State Administration for Industry and Commerce released Measures for the Archival Filing of World Expo Logo and began to accept the archival filing application. Furthermore, within the Chinese current legislative framework, the member departments of the Organizing Committee have worked out favorable policies in many aspects to facilitate the participation in and visit to the Expo by other countries. As a result, better service will be guaranteed to people’s entry into and exit from China, the import and export of exhibition items and cargos, customs procedures, taxation, inspection and quarantine and foreign exchange operations.

Most importantly, the 4th session of the 10th National People’s Congress, which is China’s parliament, held in March this year approved the 11th Five-year National Program for the Development of Economy and Society, “To ensure the success of the World Exposition Shanghai China 2010” is included in this legal document, which provides a major policy support for our overall preparatory work for the Expo.

II. The international recruitment has been going on smoothly. In March this year, we sent out official invitations for the Expo to 191 countries, among which 166 countries have diplomatic relationship with China and 25 nations absent from having such a relationship. At the same time, we also sent invitations to 49 international organizations related to the Expo’s theme. Besides, 11 non-governmental organizations have been invited. Up till yesterday, 41 countries and 4 international organizations have officially accepted our invitation. Among them are France, Ukraine, Bahrain, Mali, Cambodia, Canada, Mauritania, Algeria, Republic of Congo, Hungary, Switzerland, New Zealand, Republic of Central Africa, Cuba, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Lesotho, Eritrea, Monaco, Seychelles, Burundi, Armenia, Togo, Comoro, Spain, Netherlands, Singapore, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cape Verde, Nepal, Vanuatu, Mongolia, Vietnam, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Kirghizia, Burma, The Federal Republic of Nigeria, The Republic of Kazakhstan, The Republic of Benin, Secretariat of UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Commonwealth of Independent States, World Tourism Organization and UN Industrial Development Organization. Some countries like France, Ukraine, Mauritania, Hungary and Spain have appointed their Commissioners General of the section. Our feedback indicates that more than 30 other countries and international organizations, though having not responded officially, show great interest in their participation. Some of these countries have put their participating cases in the pipeline. So all in all, I could say that the situation is rather encouraging. I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to express my appreciation to those confirmed participating countries and organizations. Meanwhile, we look forward to the early acceptance of our invitation by other countries.

At present, we have set up our negotiation team and completed technical preparation for holding the negotiation and concluding the contract with participating countries.

III. International promotion has got under way. In order to meet the need for information of different countries and organizations all over the world and improve the communication, we have made efforts in the following five fields:

1.    After we sent out the invitations in March this year, we have build up the Expo communication channels with all the countries and international organizations through China’s overseas missions. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed our ambassadors to keep in close touch with their host countries and provide in time any information they might require.

2.    On April 12th, 2006, our National Organizing Committee held a briefing reception in Beijing for the foreign diplomatic envoys and international organizations’ representatives. In the same month, the Executive Committee hosted a similar event in Shanghai for the foreign consuls general. On April 24th, the State Council Information Office held a special news conference for the Expo in Beijing, which attracted great interest from both domestic and overseas media.

3.    Starting from August to November this year, Chinese delegations will be sent to visit a number of countries in a view to providing information, exchanging the ideas on the Expo’s theme and offering our assistance to some countries as they might need. Meanwhile, we will also be delighted to receive delegations from other countries and international organizations interested in making field visits to Shanghai.

4.    We plan to hold the 1st Participants Conference in Shanghai from November 8th to 9th this year. The confirmed participating countries and organizations will be invited to send representatives to visit the Expo site and to acquire the information on the exhibition cost and theme development, etc. Our invitation will be sent before this coming September. Other countries and international organizations which have not yet accepted our invitation formally are also welcome to attend the conference as observers.

5.    The Chinese Government’s official website, Chinese Government Website, will soon open a special column for the Expo to provide information to the world in multi-languages.

IV. We are aware that some developing countries interested in participating in the Expo are in the need of financial assistance. The Chinese Government has set up an assistance fund with a volume of USD 100 million. We have indicated in our Registration Report, countries eligible for the financial assistance are mainly the Low-Income Countries or Medium to Low-Income Countries, pursuant to the World Development Indicator of the World Bank.

Meanwhile, in accordance with the tradition of the previous World Expositions, we will also provide financial assistance to qualified international organizations, including the non-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations. The assistance standard will be in compliance with those for developing countries.  Details in this regard will soon be available.

Respected delegates, the recruitment and promotion of the World Exposition Shanghai China 2010 are our key tasks in the following months and years. We will maintain our close contact with BIE and its members and keep you informed of the progress in our preparatory work.

Thank you.