Shanghai will start selling tickets for the 2010 World Expo in September next year, one month after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tickets will cost US$20 each with provision for groups, individuals, weekly and monthly passes, Zhou Hanmin, deputy director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said yesterday.

Expo planners will set up a 10-hectare display area and invite 20 to 30 international cities to show their successful designs for city life in the future, Zhou said. The Shanghai Expo, scheduled to run from May 1, 2010 to October 31, 2010, will have cities as its theme, paying special attention to booming economies in cities around the world and the interaction between urban and rural areas.

Shanghai has already received formal confirmations from 103 countries and regions taking part, as well as 14 international organizations, Zhou said.

The Expo aims to attract at least 200 exhibitors and 70 million-plus visitors, making it the biggest in history.

(Shanghai Daily March 6, 2007)