Written by Zhang Ruyun

Photographed by Xu Jiechen

The International Forum of World Expo is a pioneering endeavor and grand event in its one hundred and fiftieth year. The Municipal Government of Shanghai and the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), subsequent to Shanghai's successful bid, reached a consensus to co-host a series of international forums. The Shanghai World Expo International Forum will be held annually until the World Expo Shanghai is formally launched in 2010.

Already, the World Expo Shanghai has had four successful sessions of the Forum, all with fascinating results. This is a report on our special interview with Zhou Hanmin, Vice Chairman of the Rules Committee of the Bureau of International Expositions, the Chinese ambassador to the BIE and also the Deputy Director General, Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination . Acting as forum moderator of the four sessions, Zhou Hanmin relates his experiences and perceptions.

Origin: The Commitment to Bid for the Expo

Zhou Hanmin sees international forums such as the Forum of Expo Shanghai as both a commitment of the bid and an important measure to allow the international society to participate in preparatory work. "It is unprecedented in history to provide these open forums on the theme and sub-themes for the Expo. During the early stages of the bidding, we made a solemn commitment to the international community that the World Expo would not be just a Shanghai Expo or a China Expo, but will be an international exposition hosted by China and developed by people of countries from all corners of the world. It will be a grand festival, a fulfilling demonstration of unique cultures and an opportunity for friendly exchange within the international community. Therefore we began honoring our promises within a year of the successful bid and held the first International Forum for the World Expo 2010 Shanghai China.

The first forum was held in Shanghai in October 2003. In Zhou Hanmin's words,"This Forum meets a very important expectation the world has toward China. That is, to make the World Expo Shanghai future-oriented. It is going to be a major turning point in the one hundred and fifty year history of the World Expo, and a great milestone in the history of mankind. Accordingly, the theme of this forum is 'Expo Facing the Future'". The first session has had great success and built an enthusiastic audience, including the Chairman, Secretary-General, and all Vice Chairmen of the BIE. The session also witnessed an important event - the establishment of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Only 8 months later, on June 25th, 2004, the second session convened in Paris, France with the theme of 'Culture Diversity and Culture Integration'. The choice of Paris as the venue fit well with the theme of the forum, since Paris is an important metropolis, and representative of many issues involved in cultural integration.

On September 23rd, 2005, two days before the closing ceremony of the Expo Aichi, the third session of the Shanghai World Expo International Forum was held in Aichi Expo park on the theme of 'World Expo and Sustainable Development', echoing 'Urban Economic Prosperity', the sub-theme of the Expo Shanghai. The Forum in 2005 served as a bridge to connect the Aichi Expo theme of 'Nature's Wisdom' to the Shanghai Expo.

Looking back on the previous sessions, the progress of the new session in this year would be in no way out of expectation. September 27th of this year saw the fourth session of the Shanghai World Expo International Forum on the theme "Better City, Better Life - making it happen, making it last" in Shanghai. Together with the successful experience of the previous sessions, this session focuses on the theme of Expo Shanghai and achieved the desired results.

Achievements: Expo Theme Developed

The fruitful achievement of the previous four sessions is reflected not only by the various collections of Forum articles. More importantly is the promotion of the World Expo Shanghai."It is no exaggeration that, among all the communications and promotions channels of the World Expo Shanghai, the Forum is the most effective way to link with friends from home and abroad and produce the greatest response worldwide,"said Zhou Hanmin,"The Forum has several interesting aspects: First, there is no precedent. In World Expo history, no other hosting country has ever started this type of community 7 years before the Expo. The broad participation is also record-breaking; our participants include representatives of a number of international organizations, renown intellectuals within international societies, famous Expo scholars from around the world as well as consulting experts from BIE. In addition, the Forum has some internal systems, or what we call the Forum within the Forum. For example, on Sept. 28th, the second day after the fourth World Expo Forum, the international forum "World Expositions and Museology" was held in Shanghai. Experts and scholars from BIE, the British Victoria and Albert Museum, the French Museum of Decorative Arts, the Dresden Museum and the Tokyo National Museum gathered together and had fruitful discussions on topics such as the overall vista of the World Expo, historical links between the World Expo and museums, and the future development of World Expo and museums.

"A second outstanding feature of the Forum has always been its pragmatism. Every session is conducted on the theme and a sub-theme of the Expo. Over the past few years, topics have included cultural fusion, economic development and interpretation of the theme. According to our plan, from now until 2010, three more sessions of the Forum will be held, focusing on the remaining sub-themes. Our next steps will consider the impact of high technology on urban development, the interplay between urban and rural areas , and also community construction."

"The third feature [of the Forum] is the debt we owe to the international community for its vigorous support. This is the only forum co-sponsored by both the Shanghai Municipal Government and BIE. It is unprecedented in history that BIE hosts such a forum annually with any host country of the World Expo. This forum will attract attention from the whole international community."

Great news came during the interview, that the fourth session of the Forum, which concluded just days ago, gained high praise from the international community. A letter from Loscertales, the secretary-general of BIE, was profuse with appreciation:"Through this forum, the international community saw Shanghai, China's unwavering commitment to promises for the World Expo. Problems addressed in this session, proficiency of key note speakers, clarity and practicality have been at record-high level in Expo history; the endeavors from Shanghai China to create such an atmosphere to promote the World Expo Shanghai and the whole World Expo drive are highly appreciated by the international society."