The metal framework of the Theme Pavilion for World Expo 2010 has been completed ahead of schedule and construction of the rest of the huge exhibition hall is now under way.

The construction of the 129,000-square-meter steel structure in Pudong New Area finished yesterday. The pavilion will showcase the theme of the six-month Shanghai Expo "Better City, Better Life". Exhibitions in the pavilion will showcase innovative urban living and offer creative solutions to urban problems.

The pavilion was designed and constructed by Chinese companies using steel from Baosteel Corp, China's biggest steel maker.

The cost is about 1.3 billion yuan (US$190 million), said Dai Liu, president of the Expo Group in charge of construction. He describes the pavilion as world-class.

The pavilion is one of the major permanent Expo structures. After the event ends, it will be turned into an exhibition center and become part of a new commercial heart of the city that will include the China Pavilion, the Expo Center and the Performance Center, said Hong Hao, director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination. Hong is also deputy secretary general of the Shanghai Municipal Government.

Dai said construction of the pavilion began on November 10 last year and will be complete by next September.

The energy-efficient Theme Pavilion will cover 80,000 square meters above ground, and another 40,000 square meters underground. Exhibitions will spread over 70,000 square meters. The major exhibition hall covers 30,000 square meters and the other two halls are big enough to accommodate four large passenger aircraft, said Dai.

The Theme Pavilion will be Shanghai's second-largest exhibition hall, after the Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong, which has 100,000 square meters of exhibition space.

The major themes of the event will be illustrated by five key points - city beings, urban dwellers, urban planets, footprints and dreams.

The Theme Pavilion will exemplify the relationship between cities, human beings and the Earth.

The Theme Pavilion is one of five permanent "green" constructions at the Expo site, along with the China Pavilion, the Expo Center, the Performance Center and the Expo Boulevard. Most of the pavilions will be dismantled after the 2010 event.

The steel framework for the China Pavilion will be finished on Wednesday. All construction will be finished by the end of next year.

(Shanghai Daily December 29, 2008)