Former Chinese ambassador to France debuts new book on World Expo

FRANKFURT, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Wu Jianmin, former Chinese Ambassador to France and honorary president of the International Exhibitions Bureau (IEB), introduced his new book "World Expo and Me" at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday.

Wu said three reasons prompted him and his wife to write this book.

The first reason was his unique experience. Wu was Chinese Ambassador to France from 1998 to 2003 while the IEB headquarters were located in Paris. He has witnessed the whole process of Shanghai's bidding for the World Expo 2010.

Wu was elected as the President of IEB in December 2003, and he served two terms until 2007. Afterwards, he was named the IEB honorary president and was a member of the jury for two Expos in Japan and Spain.

"This experience, I think, is something very unique, and I want to share my experience with other people," Wu said.

"The second reason to write the book is the Expo value: Peace, Cooperation, Development, Education, Communication and Innovation, which I believe are very important for the world today," he continued.

The third reason Wu cited was that it was the first time for China to host the Expo. Moreover, the Expo concept was still new to many people in China.

"Since it is the first time, many of my countrymen don't know what the Expo is. We told a lot of stories about the Expo in the book so that my countrymen could know better about it," Wu explained.

With a better knowledge of the Expo, the Chinese government and people, who attach great importance to this event, would be in a better position to host the Shanghai Expo and contribute to its spectacular success, Wu said.

He added that the Shanghai Expo, with its theme of "Better City, Better Life," was the first Expo which focused on the issue of urbanization.

He expressed the hope that the Shanghai Expo would provide the world with a new concept of urbanization.

It is reported that altogether, Shanghai publishing houses presented 73 kinds of books on the World Expo at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which is being held here from Oct. 13 to Oct. 18.