Opening ceremony of 2010 World Expo (XINHUA)

The Shanghai World Expo has got underway Friday evening with a dazzling display of artistic performances, fancy fireworks and high technologies at the opening ceremony.

After years of planning and preparation, the ceremony, featuring indoor performances and outdoor celebrations, began at around 20:00 in the Expo Culture Center of the Expo park, which spreads across 5.28 square kilometers along both sides of the Huangpu River.

Chinese President Hu Jintao declared the opening of the World Expo 2010 in the futuristic seashell-shaped venue.

Chinese president, BIE president attend opening ceremony (XINHUA)

International dignitaries, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Republic of Korea President Lee Myung-bak, Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and other 16 heads of state and government were in attendance at the ceremony.

The evening would be recorded in the 159-year-old World Expo history, with thousands of people watching, while hundreds of thousands more enjoying lights, fountains and fireworks that lit up the waterfront promenade, the Bund.

The indoor performances starred China's piano prodigy Lang Lang, famous for his dramatic countenance and gestures, who played the New Shanghai Concerto, the event's theme music.

The presence of international stars, including Andrea Bocelli, Shinji Tanimura and Maori dancers, turned the stage "truly planetary."

The virtual tides of the "Blue Danube" projected on the center stage then turned into a time tunnel, where images of earlier World Expos flew by, represented by landmark inventions, including electric lamps, silk, a motorcar, a steamer, a maglev train and a satellite.

Expos historically have been remembered for the creation of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the introduction of television. The Shanghai Expo, however, would go down in history as the first World Expo in a developing country besides the magnificent exhibits, architecture and ideas for urban sustainability.

As the first registered World Expo hosted by a developing country, the Shanghai Expo "will be an opportunity for China and also for the world," President Hu said in a toast at a welcoming dinner for foreign dignitaries.

A total of 189 countries would present their best at the six-month event, which is expected to attract 70 million visitors from China and abroad and likely to be the largest World Expo ever.

The Danes have brought their "Little Mermaid" statue. The French will display seven national treasures, including works by Edouard Manet and Vincent van Gogh, while Canada's Cirque du Soleil will give dazzling performances.

The Expo will show the emergence of China at the beginning of the 21st century, International Exhibitions Bureau President Jean-Pierre Lafon said in a speech delivered at the ceremony.

With the world still overshadowed by the financial crisis, analysts believe the Expo will be a boost not only to the Chinese economy, but also the global economic recovery. No one want to miss the opportunity, they say.

As the world's third largest economy and the first country emerging from the global financial crisis, China is becoming more attractive to global business with a market of 1.3 billion population.

For Shanghai, the six-month event not only stimulated infrastructure construction and consumption, it would also help the city transform itself into a global financial center, said Lian Ping, chief economist of the Bank of Communications, China's fifth largest lender.

Jean-Pierre Lafon said World Expos, more alive than ever before, are "answering a need of progress, of meetings, of conviviality and dialogue."

He said he hoped the Shanghai World Expo, carrying the theme of "Better City, Better Life", would contribute to a social awakening so that cities may become more sustainable, fairer, safer and more harmonious.

The Shanghai World Expo would usher in new ways of life for people and contribute to the promotion of harmony among mankind, cities and nature, said Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan while addressing the opening ceremony.

"I am confident that, with concerted efforts, people around the world will witness a successful, splendid and unforgettable World Expo," said President Hu in his welcoming toast.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2010)