Guangdong province has officially launched a bid to organise the 2020 World Exposition but a host city has yet to be named, mainland newspapers reported yesterday.
Speaking at the World Expo on Tuesday in Shanghai, Chen Wenjie, head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Guangdong sub-council, told reporters they had tendered an official application to the provincial government to host the World Exposition, the Guangzhou Daily reported.
Chen said Guangdong had been preparing to apply for the 2020 Expo for two years and had submitted reports to the provincial government for its endorsement.
He said it had also expressed interest to Jean-Pierre Lafon, president of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE).
'Guangdong is a vibrant and fast-developing province, and I believe Guangdong is fully capable of organising the World Expo,' the newspaper quoted Lafon as saying.
The New Express reported that Guangdong had been waiting for an official endorsement from the provincial government so that it could proceed. Subject to the evaluation of the BIE, the entire process from applying to hosting an expo could take up to 10 years.