Shanghai Expo closes Sunday, Wen declares event a success+

SHANGHAI, Oct. 31 Kyodo -
The Shanghai World Exposition -- China's showcase to the world -- closed in
fanfare on Sunday after a six-month run that drew a record of more than 73
million visitors.
Premier Wen Jiabao pronounced the Shanghai Expo, which displayed everything
from Chinese cultural relics to the latest in science and technology, a roaring
success.
With China's booming economy as the background, the 2010 World Exposition in
Shanghai underlined the nation's determination to build an urbanized society
with the slogan ''Better City -- Better Life'' as the central theme.
Sitting on a 5.28-square-kilometer site on both banks of the Huangpu River, the
exposition drew the participation of 246 countries and international
organizations, by far the largest number since the first World Expo was held in
Britain in 1851.
The expo closed Sunday night with a song-and-dance performance attended by Wen
and other senior Chinese government officials as well as dignitaries from
around the world.
Earlier in the day, Wen addressed the Summit Forum, a key program on the last
day of the Shanghai Expo, and said the Chinese leadership is determined to
accelerate the transformation of China's economic structure and expand the
urbanization program.
With a population of 1.3 billion, a majority of Chinese still live in rural areas.
''The Shanghai Expo has demonstrated that science and technological innovation
can push forward the progress of society,'' Wen said, citing one of the expo
themes to use technology to protect the environment toward building a better
city.
''Let us work together and promote efforts to build cities of harmony,'' Wen said.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who attended the Summit Forum along with an
international cast of political and academic figures, offered his
congratulations on the success of the Shanghai Expo.
By mid-October, the number of visitors to the Shanghai Expo broke the previous
record of 64.22 million marked at the 1970 Osaka Expo and topped 70 million,
the target set by expo organizers, on Oct. 24.
Organizers said the number of visitors rose past 73 million Sunday evening.
==Kyodo
2010-10-31 22:42:29


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