China has a population of 1.3 billion and covers an area of 9.6 million km², making it the world’s most populous and third-largest country. Although it is still classed as a newly industrialised country, it has the fourth-largest economy in the world, ahead of France and the UK. The pragmatism of the Chinese government in a flexible regime known as “socialism with Chinese characteristics” is resulting in rapid economic growth.

The “Better City, Better Life” slogan of the EXPO 2010 is apt for a nation whose eventful history has been closely linked with the themes of urban civilisation, centralisation and internationalisation from an early stage. Settlements soon sprang up along the country’s great rivers, including the Yellow River (Huang He), the Long River (Yangtze) and the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang), and these settlements formed the basis of China’s modern urban landscape. Approximately 36 per cent of the Chinese population live in towns and cities, which is lower than the worldwide average (an estimated 55 per cent in 2010). However, China has over 170 cities with a population of 1 million or more, and seven cities with over 10 million inhabitants. 

Shanghai, a city of superlatives, is playing a pioneering role in China’s development. Its name translates as “city above the sea”, and with over 18 million inhabitants it’s one of the ten largest cities in the world. Shanghai is today the largest and most important centre of industry in China, but in the middle of the last century it was still a sleepy fishing village.

One of the factors that led to the incredibly rapid growth of Shanghai was its location at the delta of the Yangtze River, the longest and busiest river in China. Shanghai now has the world’s third-largest harbour and China’s most important stock exchange. The Transrapid rail link between the international airport and the district of Pudong is the only commercially used maglev train connection in the world.

Major improvements will be made to Shanghai’s infrastructure in the run-up to EXPO 2010. Six new light railway lines with 200 new stops will be opened, the expansion of the road network is continuing, around 400 hotels will be renovated and a further 300 are to be built.