Preparation heats up for Shanghai Expo

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The countdown continues to the Shanghai World Expo. Now at the 200 day mark, 242 countries, regions, and international organizations have confirmed that they will be taking part. Preparations are continuing at a feverish pace, with a trial run due to start in April next year.

Major construction is now complete on the core buildings of the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Interior decoration has begun at the China Pavilion and the Theme Pavilion to prepare them for exhibits. While construction of the Expo Axis, Performance Center and the Expo Center are also in their final stages. Among 42 pavilions built by individual exhibitors, major work has wrapped up at 20 of them. The joint and stand-alone pavilions built by the organizer are expected to be finished in the second half of this year. By the end of the year, all construction will be complete.

The China Pavilion has drawn up its preliminary plan for interior design and display. Similar work is also underway in other pavilions and should be complete by the end of March next year.

Meanwhile, it's also been smooth-sailing for the marketing of the expo. Ticket sales for groups began in March, with sales to the public starting in July this year. So far, over 8 million tickets out of 60 million tickets have been sold. The organizer has appointed domestic and overseas agencies to sell tickets. There are 3,200 sales outlets in China.