Written by Zhang Ruyun

Photographed by Yu Li

Shanghai got off to a pretty good start in courting international participants to participate in the 2010 Expo Shanghai since the country sent out official invitations. A total of 74 countries and international organizations had so far confirmed their participation in the event. The success would be impossible without the assiduous efforts by related departments working to woo these international participants. Expo 2010 Shanghai interviewed Zhou Hanmin, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination on the latest progress in the recruitment of international participants.

Reporter: As we all know, the recruitment of international participants has been progressing smoothly since the country sent out official invitations for participation in the Expo Shanghai. Could you tell us the latest progress and the target in inviting international participants?

Zhou: Since the BIE approved the Application for Registration of the 2010 Expo Shanghai at its 138th General Assembly, which marked the completion of the first-phase preparation for the Expo Shanghai, we have entered the stage of full implementation in preparing for the Expo. The invitation of international participants to the event is the most important job for the second-phase preparation. With the approval of the registration report, we issued the official invitations to countries and international organizations in the first quarter this year, following requirements by the BIE and in accordance with practices of the preceding World Expos.

We are determined to achieve the target of international participation invitation, aiming to get participation of 200 countries and international organizations in the event as we said in the bidding for the Expo Shanghai. At present, a total of 74 countries and international organizations had confirmed the participation in the event, including developed countries such as Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Canada and Australia, as well as many developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Among international organizations, we have received confirmation letters from the United Nations, the most important political organization in the world, and the World Bank, the most important financial institutions in the world. These encouraging results are evidence of China’s rising international status and the allure of Shanghai as a metropolitan as well as the huge attraction of the World Expo’s theme and the relevant preparatory work.

Reporter: What is the focus for the international participation invitation in the next stage, given the current encouraging results?

Zhou: The focus for the next stage is to achieve the targets of international participant recruitment in line with the timetable; that is to say, we should obtain the confirmation letters to participate in the event from a certain number of countries, governmental international organizations, non-government organizations and non-profit organizations, and enterprises respectively. In particular, we should give our emphasis to two categories of participants: the developing countries, which are large by number, and the developed countries. As the first universal World Expo ever to be held by a developing country, the Expo Shanghai will provide a vast platform for developing countries to exhibit their unique cultures, ethnic specialty, and strength in economic development. Of course, we are also deeply concerned with the active participation in the event by developed countries. We hope that developed countries and developing countries can carry out a fair and open exchange of cultures at the Expo Shanghai to promote peaceful development in the world, to strive for the achievements of harmonious cities, harmonious world and harmonious life of human beings.

We should never cut ourselves some slack and deviate from our original target because of the encouraging results in international participation invitation. We will sign contracts with the participants, turning the political commitment made by countries into legal commitment. Next, we shall launch bilateral talks with the confirmed countries: discussing issues such as the selection of the type of pavilions, technical parameters, financial aids to developing countries, and specific measures by each country to give full play to their own advantages and strength in reflecting the theme of“Better City, Better Life”. We are looking forward to the participation by more countries in the event, meanwhile, we also give special emphasis to the quality of the exhibition.

Reporter: International participation invitation has been a very special task for the Expo Shanghai, and over the past few years, the international situation has been changing rapidly and unpredictably. How could this impact our participation invitation work?

Zhou: Yes, the participation invitation work is very special, as it is closely related to the development of international situations, which means we should first of all make a sound judgment of the international situations. It should be noted that the international participation invitation work has been carried out in full swing under the unified guidance of the participation invitation mechanism formulated by the central government. The national mechanism for inviting participants to exhibitions is formulated by members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Municipal Government of Shanghai, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), and the Commissioner General of the Expo Shanghai. Apart from the allure of China, Shanghai and the World Expo theme, the progress in international participation invitation also owes its success to another important factor, which is the support from China’s top leaders, member units of the organizing committee, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in particular, which has been mobilizing the broad diplomatic resources of our country by using our embassies in foreign countries. The success is due to the unanimous support from our country, the unique system, and the joint efforts from diplomats working in the embassies of over 100 foreign countries.

Reporter: After getting the confirmation from foreign countries and international organizations, it will be particularly important to carry out further negotiations and exchanges with them on issues related to the participation in the Expo. The organizers will held the first exhibitor conference in Shanghai this year; please tell us the latest progress in the preparation for this conference. Apart from inviting countries and international organizations that have confirmed their participation, will the organizers of the conference invite other countries and international organizations?

Zhou: The key to push forward the participation invitation work and to transform the political commitment by countries into legal agreements is to launch a relevant, continuous and effective communication and promotional campaign.

There will be four important conferences between September and December this year, and we will make use of these conferences to launch further and across-the-board promotion of the Expo Shanghai.

The fourth World Expo Forum will be held in Shanghai on September 27, and the theme this year is“Theme Development: Vivid & Profound”. The Expo Shanghai, with a theme of“Better City, Better Life”, should be an Expo that will leave memorable cultural legacy in the history of the World Expo via the collaborative cooperation between the organizers and the participants that will go to great lengths to show their respective strength.

In mid-October, the BIE will hold the second session of its executive meeting this year in Paris, France. We will present a full introduction of the progress we have made in preparing for the Expo Shanghai since the first session of the executive meeting in May, focusing in particular on progress in theme development, pavilion planning, international participant invitation, and communication and promotional work.

The first exhibitor conference for the Expo Shanghai will be held in Shanghai on November 15-16. We have invited representatives from all countries and international organizations that have confirmed their participation to attend the conference, and representatives from countries and international organizations that have received our invitation letters but are still yet to make the decision will attend the conference in the capacity of observers. There are two objectives for this conference: firstly, to introduce the latest progress in the preparation for the Expo Shanghai, and secondly, to further discuss and give accurate answers to questions of concerns to the exhibitors. To some extent, the conference will be a full-scale presentation of the achievements we have made in the phase-two preparation for the Expo Shanghai as well as an opportunity to carry out further exchanges between the host and the participants.

The BIE will hold its 140th General Assembly in Paris on December 18. We will make a full presentation of issues concerning the implementation of our commitments made in previous executive meetings and the information on the first exhibitor conference.

The launch of communication and promotion work should be supported by relevant legal documents. The Application for Registration of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai is the legal commitment China has made with respect to all important issues in hosting the World Expo. But for the exhibitors, there are still many technical, detailed, and operational questions to be answered.

We are now working on the Exhibition Guidelines, which aims to answer these specific questions. The guidelines will consist of 20 chapters, which will be presented to the exhibitors at the first exhibitor conference to be held in November. We are striving to make it a readable, enjoyable and reader-friendly reference document, and the book shall be rich in illustrations, simple in diction and interesting to read.

Reporter: We have made substantial progress until now in the invitation of governmental participants; could you tell us some information about the recruitment of non-governmental participants?

Zhou: Just now, I mentioned that we have issued invitations to 11 non-governmental and non-profit organizations, including important organizations such as International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which, I hope, will confirm the participation very likely.

We have also been working hard to woo corporate exhibitors. We are of the opinion that the corporate exhibitors should meet several basic requirements. First of all, they should be domestically well-known firms, or famous international companies. Secondly, they should have strong technical capabilities to properly interpret the theme of the World Expo. Thirdly, the companies or their sectors should be closely related to the theme of the World Expo, in other words, they should be related to the better life of human beings. Fourthly, as corporate citizens, these companies should be willing to make their own contributions in participating in the Expo, popularizing science, and working for the achievement of better life for the human society.

We are now formulating relevant invitation documents, hoping that an effective selection mechanism will be formed to help choose the best from the good applicants with their own unique strength in a particular field. In principle, we would confine the number of corporate exhibitors to 20, which will set up their own pavilions in the Expo Park to display their splendid exhibits. The invitation of corporate exhibitors will be launched in the fourth quarter this year.

All in all, our participant invitation work goes along with the gradual improvement in our national competitiveness, international image and overall strength. Its development is due to the support of the World Expo from all our people, and from the excellent leadership and meticulous arrangement by the organizing committee, the executive committee, and in particular the central mechanism for participation invitation. In addition, the progress also owes its success to the assiduity of staff working on the preparation for the Expo, who has been working hard to court exhibitors to present the upcoming pageant.

All the staffs working on the preparation for the Expo believe that to host a successful World Expo is to serve the interest of our country, and to bring honors to our motherland, and that the success of international participation invitation work will primarily serve the interest of our country in maintaining successful diplomatic relations with other countries. We are now making every effort for the achievement of this mission, and we also take great pride in undertaking this mission.