Maintaining coastal security during the upcoming six-month World Expo, to be held in the city next year, will be a top priority, Shanghai mayor Han Zheng said.

"Shanghai will try its best to ensure the success of the expo, in which security will be a key element," Han said at the conclusion of an anti-terrorism drill Sunday morning at the southeast Luchao Port.

A total of 29 naval army vessels, two helicopters and more than 1,000 police from Shanghai and eight coastal provinces participated in the Sunday drill - the largest coastal anti-terrorism drill ever held by China Coast Guard.

Meng Jianzhu, minister of public security, appealed to Coast Guard to step up its efforts in fighting terrorism during the expo.

"Security measures must be fully implemented to fight any terror attack from the sea," he said.

The city has a coastline of 211 km and the expo site is off the bank of Huangpu River. An estimated 70 million people from home and abroad are expected to visit, three times the number of visitors to the Aichi Expo held in Japan in 2005.

A large part of the operating budget for the expo will be for addressing security issues, the organizers announced earlier.

Under the coordination of the Border Control Department of the Ministry of Public Security Bureau, Shanghai and its five neighboring coastal provinces have established a joint action system of coast police.

Sunday's drill simulated a terror attack on a cargo ship. Eight mock terrorists with guns and bombs came aboard the ship and seized five crewmen.

Naval ships arrived in minutes and took back control of the cargo ship by seizing some of the terrorists. Four terrorists attempted to escape in two motorboats and ignited the simulated bomb they had put on the ship.

The fire was being extinguished while boats were dispatched to go for the two motorboats, which were approaching Donghai Bridge connecting mainland Shanghai and the offshore Yangshan Deepwater Port. In 30 minutes, the drill was completed with three of the mock terrorists shot to death and five others arrested in simulated action.

(China Daily June 23, 2009)