Apart from capturing the global spotlight, Shanghai World Expo 2010 will also showcase state-of-the-art high technology.

Highlights will include electronic payments, a digital air balloon, underwater surveillance, e-ticketing and wireless communications sectors, the organizing authority said over the weekend.

About 70 million people are expected to visit the World Expo, covering an area of 5.28 square kilometers, which means daily traffic flow to and from the site will hit 400,000, according to Zhou Weidong, the Shanghai Municipal Information Commission's secretary-general, who is in charge of the expo's information technology infrastructure.

"The expo won't go well without an advanced 'nerve' system and our IT-based system can meet the requirements," Zhou said during a public briefing.

The balloon, installed with video monitors, will provide bird's-eye traffic control, and will also be connected with the ticketing and guiding systems.

The World Expo logo and images of Shanghai will decorate the balloon.

Foreigners will find it easy to shop during the expo as their credit cards, both with built-in chip and magnetic material, will be accepted by many local stores and all outlets at the site.

"Long queues formed to get change for soft drinks at the previous World Expo in Japan and I will make sure the same embarrassing moments won't exist in 2010," Zhou said.

A citywide telecommunications network, which combines 3G, Wi-Fi and WiMax technologies, is on the way.

Construction of the home-grown 3G TD-SCDMA (time division-synchronous code division multiple access) network covering the Inner Ring region is scheduled completed in October and China Mobile will test the network until the end of this year.

About 1,200 to 1,500 TD-SCDMA base stations will be built in Shanghai by the end of this year, according to Yang Guiliang, Datang Mobile's senior vice president.

(Shanghai Daily June 25, 2007)