Sun Yuanxin, Vice-president of the Expo Economic Research Institute of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, stated at a forum yesterday that Expo 2010 Shanghai China will generate between 1.2 and 1.5 trillion yuan (US$176-220 billion) of production value, one third of which will make its presence felt after the Expo.

According to Sun, the total investment in Shanghai Expo will be 290 to 320 billion yuan(US$42.4-46.8 billion), in three constituent parts: 36 billion yuan(US$5.3 billion) for the establishment and operation of the Expo site; 55 to 74 billion yuan(US$8-10.1 billion) for the cost of visitors and exhibitors; more than 200 billion yuan(US$29.3 billion) for related public utilities, including infrastructure, environmental protection, and public service platform.

Sun also noted that the 420 km of mass transit that is to be finished before the Expo will significantly change the public's mode of travel and their residential choices. During the exhibition period, the building of Hongqiao transport hub development zone, Lingang new city, nine city suburbs and further upgrading of the Expo site will become the key areas for Shanghai's development.

Undoubtedly, Shanghai Expo will exert long-term influence on the growth of the city-cluster in Yangtze River Delta. The traffic network of the area has been strengthened, taking the Hangzhou Bay Bridge and Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed railway as examples, and the beginnings of a "three-hour economic circle" have been formed in the city-cluster, which substantially facilitates communication around the cities and promotes the optimized allocation of resources. The 2010 Expo will present vigorous cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Ningbo and Nanjing to the world, and enables the city-cluster to become one of the six biggest in the world.

Xu Wei, a strategy analyst from Guojin Securities, stated that the Expo will promote the growth of the regional economy and the flourishing of various industries: "The influence of Expo will mainly concentrate on the host city region, and the industries that will feel its benefits will include infrastructure, construction, food and beverage industry, etc., with consumer services deriving the greatest advantage."

Yang Hongxu is the director of the Integrated Research Department of Shanghai Yiju Real Estate Academe. He thinks that the post-Expo effect will be strongest for Shanghai's real estate market: "It will take at least ten full years fully to lay out, construct, operate and further upgrade the Expo site. Such huge investment and the coming prosperity of related industries will, to a certain extent, uphold the economic fundamentals of Shanghai's two 'five-year-plans'," commented Yang.

(China.org.cn by Fan Junmei June 23, 2009)