U.S. ends Shanghai World Expo suspense
Posted: Friday, July 17, 2009 10:18 AM
Filed Under:
Beijing, China
By Eric Baculinao, NBC News Beijing Bureau Chief
BEIJING –Months of speculation that America might snub China over a global showcase event came to an end Friday with the formal groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S.A. Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo site.
Dubbed the Olympics of global business and technology, the World Expo is set to open in Shanghai in May 2010, offering another platform to show off China’s global expansion.
But as the U.S. missed one building deadline after another due to financial difficulties, fears were growing that the most important guest would be a no-show – which would have dealt a serious blow to Chinese pride and prestige.
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| AFP - Getty Images |
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U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, center, with other officials during the ground-breaking ceremony for the USA Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo site in Shanghai on Friday. |
Enticing America
The Shanghai Expo – which reportedly has a budget bigger than the Beijing Olympic Games –will attract some 70 million visitors over a six-month period. It will feature the economic, technological and cultural achievements of over 200 countries and international organizations, with China, and the city of Shanghai, on center stage.
The event, held once every five years, has a 150-year history, and the U.S. itself has staged the World Expo 14 times. Although the U.S. was a no-show at the 2000 Expo in Hanover, German, and its pavilion at the 2005 Expo in Aichi, Japan was largely funded by Toyota.
The fact that American participation in the event is no small matter to the Chinese can be seen in the prime site allocated for the U.S. pavilion – a 60,000-square-foot site that anchors one end of the expo’s central promenade. The other end, across Shanghai’s famed Huangpu River, is anchored by the China Pavilion, a $200-million futuristic crown-shaped structure that is fast nearing completion.
(The international event has often been showcases for major architectural feats – one of the most enduring symbols from a past event is the Eiffel Tower – it was built for the 1889 Paris Expo.)
To further entice American participation, China’s government reportedly advanced the funds for the initial design and engineering preparations for the U.S. site. To accommodate American delays, the Chinese had to change their own construction deadlines several times.
But there was growing Chinese exasperations over the prolonged inability of the U.S. to officially confirm its attendance, with one commentator for the People’s Daily bluntly warning: "If America is absent, it will damage American interests in China."
A $61-million question
America attendance has depended largely on private fund-raising efforts, as a 1991 federal law bans government funding for expo participation.
With the financial crisis adding to the usual challenges of wooing potential corporate sponsors, even at this point, the U.S.A. Pavilion committee has reportedly only raised half of the $61 million needed to build and operate the pavilion. They have raised enough to start construction, but more funding will be needed to complete the project.
Still the groundbreaking on Friday was an achievement for Frank Lavin, a former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade, who has been spearheading the campaign.
Efforts are on track towards "a first class pavilion of which all Americans can be proud of," Lavin told NBC News. "The pavilion offers the single best platform for American companies to communicate to the emerging middle class of China, as well as an excellent way to connect with Chinese leadership and decision-makers."
The funding shortfall means that groups supporting the U.S. efforts cannot remain complacent. Jeffrey Li, a Chinese-American executive and Novartis chief in China, is leading a committee to mobilize grassroots Chinese-American support for the U.S. pavilion. "The Chinese people will not understand why the US cannot ‘afford’ a pavilion," he said.
