Shanghai World Expo has its fourth partner

The Bank of Communications, the first commercial bank on the Chinese mainland listed overseas, has become the fourth official partner of World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

The bank signed an agreement with the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination here on Saturday and promised to provide qualified and efficient financial services for the event.

So far the Shanghai World Expo has four officials partners including the China Eastern Airlines, one of the country's biggest airlines, China Mobile, China Telecom and the newcomer Bank of Communications.

Shanghai World Expo sponsorship has a two-level structure: partner level and senior sponsor level. The marketing campaign and partnerships are expected to help cover part of the 30 billion yuan (3.75 billion U.S. dollars) cost of the World Expo.

The marketing campaign of the expo was formally kicked off with China Eastern Airlines becoming the first partner in March.

The 2010 shanghai World Expo, also known as the "Economic Olympics," will be held from May 1 to Oct. 31, 2010 and is expected to draw 70 million visitors from home and abroad.

The Bank of Communications went public in Hong Kong last June. By the end of June this year, the total assets of the bank reached 1.589 trillion yuan (198.625 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 165.6 billion yuan over half a year ago, and it had generated a net profit of 6.034 billion yuan, an increase of 1.429 billion yuan from the previous year.

Source: Xinhua