Shanghai Daily news
The number of participating countries and international organizations to the
Shanghai World Expo in 2010 has reached 174, overtaking the previous record held
by Germany's Hanover, an official in charge of the event said yesterday during
the ongoing 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
"This means the number of participants to the Shanghai event will for sure
set a new record," said Zhong Yanqun, a delegate of the Shanghai delegation. She
is also deputy head of the executive council of the Shanghai World Expo, to be
held from May to October 2010.
The figure has surpassed estimations made by Shanghai party chief Xi Jinping,
who said in August the number of participants would reach 170 by the end of this
year. Xi estimated the figure would reach 200 by the end of 2008.
"The Shanghai Expo will stage more than 20,000 activities and will draw 70
million visitors, an average of 400,000 a day," Zhong said. "It will be the
first time for the 156-year-old event to be held in a developing country."
Shanghai won its bid for the World Expo 2010 in December 2002, two years
after the Hanover Expo.