Hu Min and Yang Jian/Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai and Yeosu, South Korea, host cities of the 2010 and 2012 World Expo respectively, signed a four-year agreement to cooperate and share Expo information in Seoul yesterday.

Yeosu, set to play the host of an Expo focusing on ocean and coasts, will exchange ideas with Shanghai on marketing, volunteer recruitment, tourism product development, participation affairs as well as promotion and operation of the event.

The two cities will provide assistance for each other in Expo-related promotional activities and dispatch groups of experts to exchange views on preparatory work, according to the memorandum.

Shanghai organizers will also share experiences in hosting the event with their Yeosu counterpart after the 2010 Expo.

President Hu Jintao, who was in Seoul for a two-day visit, said at the signing ceremony that strengthening cooperation in the Expo field between China and South Korea was a significant consensus reached by him and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

President Hu said the Shanghai World Expo's theme "Better City, Better Life" reflected the international community's attention on living standards

South Korea's exhibition, housed in a 6,000-square-meter pavilion, will feature sophisticated technology in fields such as IT.

The Yeosu Expo, themed "The Living Ocean and Coast - Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities," aims to bring countries and regions worldwide together to share technology in preserving the ocean and coastal areas and exploring marine resources to replace land resources.

Also yesterday, Denmark announced it would turn its Shanghai World Expo pavilion into a fairy-tale world.