China's wheat pavilion the pick of the crop at Expo Milano 2015

China's first self-built overseas Expo pavilion - a rippling-wheat-shaped building and the second largest foreign one next to Germany's - has opened to the public at the Expo Milano 2015 in Italy.

Themed "Land of Hope, Food for Life," the China Pavilion "will exhibit the country's agricultural history, food culture and its future expectations to the world," said Wang Jinzhen, commissioner general for the China Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 and vice-chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

With food as the theme of this year's event, culinary delights from host Italy and beyond will be one of the main draws for the fair's expected 20 million visitors.

The Italian government is also backing a process to create a document of solutions to fight hunger and food waste, among other goals. The ambition of the "Milan Charter" is to get individuals, civil groups and businesses to back a series of solutions, a diplomatic trend that recognises that some problems are too vast for governments alone to resolve.

The Expo Milano is a new registered international exposition after the 2010 Shanghai Expo. A total of 148 countries and international organisations have confirmed their participation, with 55 self-built pavilions.

North Korea stepped out of its isolation as a last-minute participant, and there are signs Turkey may use the occasion to reach out to the Vatican, weeks after recalling its ambassador to the Holy See over Pope Francis describing the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.