Shanghai Daily news

The 5.28-square-kilometer Expo site will be developed into an international cultural exchange and business center after World Expo 2010, Shanghai Vice Mayor Yang Xiong revealed yesterday during an online forum.

Relocation work to make way for the construction of the site has already been completed while resettlement regarding Expo-related projects will finish by the end of this year, according to Yang, who is also executive deputy director of the Executive Committee of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai.

Expo officials have been trying to minimize the impact of construction on residents living nearby the site by taking measure such as planting trees to control dust, Yang said, adding that the city's preparation for Expo 2010 will also embody the Expo theme "Better City, Better Life."

Organizers will encourage visitors to tour the site at night by offering discounts in an effort to avoid overflow of visitors in the day time. Group tickets will go on sale on September 28 while individuals have to wait until May 1 next year to purchase tickets.

More than 6,000 individual toilet stalls will be built, 11 to 12 on average for per thousand visitors and mobile toilets will also be put in place to avoid long queues, Yang said.

He said organizers will issue guidance to ensure product prices at the Expo site are not higher than the same kinds of products outside the site.

Yang said organizers will take Netizens' opinions into consideration on allowing the public to enter the Expo site to learn about construction progress.

Organizers will not define any pavilions as the symbol of the Shanghai Expo, instead, visitors can judge by themselves, Yang said.