scene of the meeting

delegation from the United Kingdom and Expo officials

The United Kingdom's preparation for the Shanghai World Expo is going smoothly, a British delegation led by Ian McCartney, commissioner general for World Expo 2010, yesterday told his Chinese counterpart Hua Junduo at a meeting in Shanghai.

Carma Elliot, the UK's deputy commissioner general for the Expo and also the British Consul-General in Shanghai, said the country is looking forward to the exposition and will keep in close contact with the organizers on the preparations.

Hua said the design of the UK Pavilion was full of innovation and creativity. He believed the pavilion would be an Expo highlight.

Hua said the organizers would spare no effort in helping all the participants.

After the meeting, the delegation visited the master plan exhibition hall in the Expo Mansion and enjoyed a bird's eye view of the site.

The design of the UK Pavilion was unveiled last November. The pavilion is in the shape of a big cube with thousands of spines that hover in the air. The spines swing in the breeze and are tipped with tiny, colored lights that will form images. The design was among the four most anticipated attractions of the event, according to an online survey at the time.