To date, about 20 foreign institutions, organizations and sister cities have confirmed their attendance at the Qingdao International Horticultural Exposition 2014, according to a work conference held on Thursday.

Seven Chinese provinces, regions and municipalities, including Hubei, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Ningxia, Henan, Hebei and Shanghai, have confirmed their participation. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are about to give their final confirmation. Tongji University, Qingdao Agricultural University, National Flower Engineering Research Center and eight enterprises have also confirmed attendance.

Wang Jianxiang, the vice mayor of Qingdao and the executive director of the Expo’s Executive Committee, said the expo hopes to attract 124 foreign and domestic exhibitors. All exhibitors are expected to confirm their attendance by the end of September this year.

The expo is set to be held during April-October, 2014, covering the theme "From the earth，for the Earth." It is expected to attract 12 million visitors.