Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng yesterday met with the presidents of Chinese and overseas news agencies who are in the city to attend a board meeting of the Asian News Association.

Han welcomed the board committee and praised them for selecting Shanghai to host their meeting and said he hoped the association would continue to play an important role in reporting on the Asia-Pacific region.

Han briefed board members on preparations for World Expo 2010 Shanghai and said he wanted the news agencies represented at the meeting to introduce the Expo to the people of Asian-Pacific countries. He said there were now 1,047 days to go before the Expo opened. He also invited all the board members to attend the World Expo in Shanghai.

Clive Marshall, chief executive of Australian Associated Press and chairman of the board, thanked the Shanghai Municipal Government and Xinhua news agency for their hospitality. He said he believed the members of the association would continue to report on the great changes happening in China, especially in Shanghai. He also said he believed Shanghai would host a successful Expo.

Lu Wei, vice president of Xinhua news agency in delivering a speech of welcome to board members, said Shanghai should take the opportunity to complete the building of an information center.

Lu said more economic information was demanded in Asia, as an unbalanced information resource restricted the development of Asian and global information services. He emphasized to the association that it had an obligation to spread and share economic information among Asian countries and he suggested that members of the association should enhance their communication and cooperation by setting up a bridge between Asia and the global economy.

The association is made up of six news agencies -- Xinhua news agency, Australia Associated Press, Japanese Kyodo news agency, Berita National Malaysia, Yonhap news agency and Antara News Agency. The presidents and vice presidents of the news agencies attend the board meetings, which are held twice a year.

Wang Zhongwei, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Director of the Propaganda Department.