The 138th BIE General Assembly, held in Paris on December 1, examined and adopted the Application for Registration of the Expo 2010 Shanghai, which symbolizes that the preparation for the Shanghai World Expo has entered a brand new phase. The approval of the Application for Registration also constitutes a notable landmark in the progress of preparations for the Shanghai World Expo.
Mr. Wu Jianmin, former Chinese ambassador to France and current BIE President, presided over the assembly, which, as proposed by the BIE executive committee, examined and passed the Application for Registration after they had listened to the brief introduction on preparation updates of the Expo 2010 Shanghai by the China delegation.
After the announcement by Mr. Wu of the unanimous approval of the Application for Registration, Mr. Zhou Yupeng, who is Vice Mayor of Shanghai and Standing Deputy Director of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo Executive Committee and Director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, together with the Chinese Commissioner General to Shanghai Expo Mr. Hua Junduo and Vice Mayor Mr. Yang Xiong took the BIE Flag from the BIE President at the meeting amid a burst of applause from delegates attending the assembly.
The Application for Registration is concerned with the detailed implementation plan for the Expo Shanghai, and its approval means that China will have a clear guidance for its obligation and legal rights in hosting and preparing for the World Expo. It also signifies that the Expo 2010 Shanghai has finished the legally required registration procedure, and the preparation work of the Shanghai World Expo will step into a substantive stage. With the Application being passed, China now has the legal right to host the exposition and extend exhibition invitations to the international community. Besides, Mr. Hua Junduo, the Chinese commissioner general to Expo Shanghai also began to exercise his duties starting from December 1.
Yu Ping, Deputy Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the country's chief representative to BIE said during the presentation that the registration work for the Expo 2010 Shanghai proceeded smoothly with the support of the Chinese government and BIE and the joint efforts of members of the Shanghai World Expo Organizing Committee. Preparation for the Shanghai World Expo has also made substantial progress, Yu said, wishing that all the BIE member states and global community to keep on supporting the preparations.
Mr. Zhou Hanmin, Vice Director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination also briefly introduced the recent preparation work for the Shanghai World Expo as well as the drafting process and main contents of the Application for Registration.