Mr. Zhou is the Vice Director of Shanghai World Expo Executive Committee and a standing committee member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

David Ferguson: Thank you. The World Expo is considered to be the third biggest event in the world after the Olympics and the World Cup. What does it mean personally to you to share the primary responsibility for such a major event?

Zhou Hanmin: Just now you said "the third" – to me it is "the first". Why? The World Exposition is going to last for 184 days consecutively, without any stopping. Second, more than 200 countries and international organizations are getting together. The third, the largest audience of visitors is expected to reach that spot – for instance in Shanghai, the expo site covers 5.28 square km. No one, no such kind of event has been ever recorded in the history of human kind.

So my primary responsibility as a person, as an individual, as a Chinese, as an intellectual, I think this is the foremost moment of my lifetime. I was involved in the preparation for the bidding as early as 2001. Now almost 8 years have passed, I am still working on this very important project. Personally I am in charge of all issues concerning and relating to participation: First, sovereign states: up to today 185 sovereign states – including Great Britain – have confirmed their participation; second, international organizations: up to today, 46 international organizations, including the United Nations, the European Union, the Caribbean Community and so on and so forth have confirmed their participation.

Third, we have something unprecedented, we created that, we call it UBPA (Urban Best Practices Area) – meaning we are going to select the most important, dynamic and livable examples in the world to strongly demonstrate themselves together, in a joint effort to let history have its reference for the future for better life. So up to today, we have got 50 cases, including two from Great Britain: one comes from Liverpool, the second comes from London. We are going, as I said, to demonstrate in a joint effort to let the world understand why we are dreaming of a better life and what kinds of life could be deemed as better life.

And fourthly, we are going to have some 16 corporate pavilions. We will try to let corporations work dynamically and enthusiastically to show cutting-edge technology for the future life of cities.

Fifthly, all domestic provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China are participating. We have also extended invitations to Hong Kong, to Macao, and to Taiwan. Now Hong Kong and Macao have already designed their pavilions individually because we are going to carry on the very important "one country two systems" policy. They are not going to move themselves into a collective way of demonstration and exhibition. They have different and individual pavilions: one is for Hong Kong, and one is for Macao, and we are expecting last but not least, one from Taiwan.

So I am in charge of that - just now you mentioned my background. Frankly speaking I am a professor in law myself. So that's why I am in charge of all legal affairs together with political and diplomatic issues in the Bureau. So personally the responsibility is heavy. However this is the greatest pleasure for my life to work for this project.