The nuts and bolts of the Expo

Volunteers Just as in the Beijing Olympics, there will be a small army of volunteers at hand to make everything run smoothly. About 200,000 volunteers selected from 500,000 applicants will offer services at the Expo sites, on city streets and at airports for visitors from around the world. Food safety With tens of millions of visitors needing to be fed, food safety is a big deal for the organisers and World Expo 2010 will provide food quality of the same standard as the Beijing games, organisers said. COFCO, China's largest food product manufacturer, has been given responsibility for providing produce, food and oils, fruit and vegetables, sugar and beverages for the Expo.

Innovation The Shanghai Expo will focus on the promotion of environmentally friendly technologies and innovation, with low-carbon designs on display at the event. Transportation Hundreds of kilometres of new underground railway track have been laid, a new deep-water port has been built, airport capacity has doubled and a new tunnel has been constructed under the Huangpu River. Transportation infrastructure inside and outside the Expo site will be largely finished by the end of this month and put into use by next April. The construction or overhauling of public services such as medical treatment, sewerage, drinking water and communication are also making progress.

Accommodation More than 3,400 rooms in apartments in the Expo Village and service apartments in the surrounding areas are complete. That number will reach 6,700 at the end of this month and 7,100 by the end of next March. Cultural The Expo will host about 20,000 performances and 200 countries and international organisations have applied to stage national events.