The history of World's Fairs stretches back to 1851, and they are thought to rank only behind the Olympics and the World Cup in football in terms of public importance. In 1933, the Chicago World Expo created 20 million jobs for the US and pulled the country out of the Great Depression. Shanghai hopes to be as lucky.

Huang Jianzhi said, "World Expo is a very good opportunity for Shanghai, as well as the country. It may offer us a way out of the economic downturn. Imagine, over 200 countries and organizations will take part. No matter whether they build pavilions or lease space at the expo, they are contributing to China's economic development."

Singapore's three-thousand square-meter pavilion is only a mid-sized one among some 100 planned pavilions. There will be a total of 18 billion yuan spending on building exhibition halls. The city is also spending billions to upgrade infrastructure.