Shanghai is eager to learn from the experiences of other cities that have held a World Expo, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng told an Expo forum held in the city Wednesday.

Han, who is also acting secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said preparations for 2010 Expo are going smoothly with support from the Bureau of International Expositions, the event's governing body.

Seventy-seven countries, regions and organizations have accepted the city's invitation to attend the 2010 World Expo, Han told the meeting participants.

The annual Expo forum offers a good communication platform for Shanghai to learn from others, Han said.

The forum invited more than 150 experts from home and abroad to contribute their ideas to the expo, whose theme is "Better City, Better Life."

Also yesterday, China Mobile and China Telecom Corporation became the second and third business partners for the event.

"The partners will have priority in constructing enterprise pavilions within the expo site in 2010," Zhou Hanmin, deputy director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, told Shanghai Daily.

He said 16 enterprises from home and abroad are expected to sponsor individual pavilions.

China Eastern Airlines became the first partner of World Expo 2010 early this year.

Partners supply equipment to the event and are allowed to use the expo logo in their marketing.

Expo bureau officials said they select partners from all over the world according to their capacities and level of business involvement in China.

They stressed that they don't favor domestic enterprises.

The bureau plans to finalize its partners and sponsors by the end of June 2007.

"The Shanghai expo will radiate across China, and all regions will benefit," Zhou said.

He said the China Pavilion will display the cultures and specialties of China's western areas such as Gansu Province and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, among the country's other charms.

(Shanghai Daily September 28, 2006)