Chinese people from across the world will be invited to submit
design ideas for the China Pavilion, the Shanghai Expo organizer
said.
The global recruitment for the design will start next month.
According to the China News Agency, the blueprint of the China
Pavilion will be finalized by the end of June and infrastructure
construction is set begin later this year.
The theme of the China Pavilion is "the Chinese wisdom of urban
development" and "harmony" is the main concept.
Wu Zhiqiang, the main planner of the expo site, said the China
Pavilion will offer "a retrospective of China's urbanization in the
past 5,000 years with its special ethnic soul" represented in the
theme.
The entire 48,000-square meter-structure is to be completed by
the end of 2009.
The agency also said the China Pavilion will consist of a
national hall and other exhibition halls to be used by different
regions in the country. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will be also
invited to set up exhibitions at the China Pavilion.
The expo organizer said that 128 countries and international
organizations have confirmed their participation at the Shanghai
World Expo by April 10, some 20 of which intend to build their
individual pavilions on the expo site.
(China Daily April 12, 2007)