Celebrations spread across China Tuesday night as Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl, was awarded the 2010 World Expo.
The landmark vote of the 132nd General Assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) makes China the first developing country to ever host the event which debuted 151 years ago.
Hosting the "Economic Olympics" brings yet another huge boost for China's development after winning its bid to host the 2008 Olympics last year.
Chinese people, particularly Shanghai citizens, could hardly contain their joy as they promised to present a successful, splendid and unforgettable exposition to the whole world in 2010, which will also bring benefits to the BIE member countries.
The World Expo is a great event for different governments to present and exchange social, economic, cultural and scientific achievements, and also helps to enhance new technology and concepts.
The BIE's selection of Shanghai will help to improve the living standard and social progress of Shanghai.
The World Expo is a huge project presenting a comprehensive picture of the political, economic, cultural, scientific and social achievements of the host country. It is both a test of the national economic power, and a booster to the country's economy.
In 2001, China's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 1.16 trillion US dollars, ranking it seventh in the world, and its ranking in foreign trade jumped from nine in 1999 to seven. By 2010, China's GDP is expected to exceed 2 trillion US dollars.
As China's economic engine, Shanghai's GDP has kept up a two digit growth for 10 continuous years.
In 2001, the Shanghai port trade volume accounted for a quarter of the country's total, the port's annual handling capacity ranked third in the world, and the average annual per capita GDP exceeded4,500 US dollars, four times that of the country's average level.
Hosting the World Expo will give the high-speed metropolis a new challenging project to push it forward, as it will be forced to rapidly complete its transformation into a world center of economy, trade, finance and transportation -- a process which will also help the economic development of the Yangtze River triangle region and lower reaches.
Shanghai Mayor Chen Liangyu said that Shanghai's hosting of the exposition will not only benefit the city and China, but many other countries.
Shanghai has already been quickening its pace of opening up and development of city infrastructure and environmental protection since the Chinese government applied to the BIE on May 2, 2001 to host the 2010 World Exposition.
Shanghai attracted over 9.1 billion US dollars of contract foreign investment during the January-October period, an increase of 37.3 percent over the same period last year, and it expects to attract a record 10 billion US dollars foreign investment in 2002.
The metropolis also held a series of international events, including tourism festivals, art festivals, and industry expos and expected to receive over 80 million tourists as more people have set Shanghai as their tourism target.
Shanghai, China's economic engine, has spent about 100 billion yuan (about 12 billion US dollars) on its infrastructure construction.
Chen Liangyu said that the ultimate goal of Shanghai's bid for the World Expo was to introduce China to the whole world. The bidding is a process for China to learn from other countries and to promote its industrial structure and improve the quality of its citizens.
A 5,000-year history and 56 ethnic groups have endowed China with a diversified cultural charm and tremendous tolerance, adding to the potential attractiveness of the event.
By the year 2010, Shanghai expects to welcome its guests with a clear, clean and beautiful environment to embody its bidding theme of "better city, better life."
Shanghai intends to present the most successful, splendid and unforgettable World Expo in the history of the event.
|
