If Shanghai win the bid for hosting the 2010 World Exposition, it will invest 2.5 billion US dollars in the event, acting Mayor Chen Liangyu said recently.
This would provide both domestic and overseas investors with tempting business opportunities, he added.
Experts estimated that five to 10 times as much will be needed for the infrastructure constructions connected with traffic, communication and water supply improvements as well as reconstruction of old districts.
In addition, holding a World Exposition would involve financial, legal and accounting services as well as professional staff for programming and administration, the acting mayor said.
If the World Exposition would be held in the city, it would last for six months and would attract at least 50 million visitors, he said.
The number could even exceed the all-time high of 64 million reached at the 1970 World Expo held in Osaka, Japan
Experts have grounds for the estimation, since the population of Shanghai and its neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces is 130 million, many of whom would be potential Expo visitors.
Experts predicted that 30 to 35 percent of the possible 50 million visitors to the Exposition would continue their travels in areas around Shanghai and in other parts of east China.
In this case Jiangsu and Zhejiang provincial cities with beautiful scenery like Suzhou, Wuxi and Hangzhou will all benefit from the event.
Statistics show that by the end of 2001, 64.7 million domestic tourists and over two million overseas travelers had visited Shanghai.
Shanghai has chosen "A Better City, A Better Life" as the theme for its bid. If the bid is successful over 100 countries and international organizations will exhibit and show their achievements towards the city development and urban life improvement, the acting mayor said.
The Expo will open a window of opportunity to the 1.3 billion Chinese people to see the outside world as well as to foreigners who want to learn about Chinese history, culture and achievements, he said.
Eight companies from France, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy and China have tendered for the design of the World Expo buildings in Shanghai.
Their active participation and brilliant ideas demonstrate their confidence in Shanghai's bid as well as a strong wish to join in Shanghai's future construction, said Yu Sijia, an expert with the Shanghai Urban Planning Administration Bureau.
All eight are world-renowned architectural design companies. Some participated in the site design of the of the Hannover Expo 2000 in Germany and the Sydney Olympics.
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