By Lily Wang

The 2020 Dubai World Expo， with a total investment of USD 50 billion， which was delayed by 1 year due to the pandemic， opened up on October 1， 2021. During the half year of opening， 192 countries shall exhibit their charming culture and technological outcome through distinct pavilion design and colorful folk activities. It is estimated to attract about 250 million audience.

Promote the construction of a community that sees a shared future for mankind

The China Pavilion opened on the same day with the opening of Dubai World Expo. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a video speech for the opening of the China Pavilion. He pointed out that the Dubai World Expo is the first world expo held in the Middle East. It is of great significance for world countries to showcase their developmental concepts and achievements and make dialogue and cooperation within the theme of “Connecting the mind， creating the future”. The con- cept of “building a community with a shared future for mankind is an answer made by President Xi Jinping to the question of “what kind of world shall be built and how to build the world”， based on common interests of people of China and the world. The China Pavilion has closely adhered to the theme of “building a community with a shared future for mankind-innovation and opportunity”， and comprehensively interpreted the concept of building partnerships in the 21st century， advancing global cooperation and creating a better future by China and the rest of the world.

On January 10， the National Day of China was celebrated in the China Pavilion was celebrated and China’s Vice Premier Hu Chunhua delivered a written speech. Hu said that President Xi Jinping delivered a video speech at the opening day of the China Pavilion， in which he spoke highly of the significance of the Dubai World Expo， and proposed that people all over the world shall work together to respond to the call of the times， strengthening global governance， promote development with innovation， and make continuous progress towards building a community with a shared future for mankind. With the theme of “building a community with a shared future for mankind - innovation and opportunities”and based on the vivid practice of China’s development， the China Pavilion focuses on China’s development and innovation achievements in the fields of satellite navigation， high-speed rail， unmanned driving， seawater rice and intelligent robots. The Pavilion shares China’s development concepts and experience， and shows China’s commitments to advancing global cooperation and creating a better future through the concepts of peace， development， cooperation and win-win for all. It is believed that through colorful displays， rich interactive experiences and multiple cultural activities， the China Pavilion will surprise world visitors.

Hu said that the economic compatibility between China and the UAE is strong， and China’s Belt and Road Initiative is consistent with the UAE’s concept of “revitalizing the silk road”. The future is thus bright for the bilateral cooperation. China is willing to work with the UAE to enhance political trust， promote cooperation in all sectors under the Belt and Road framework， further enrich the content of China-UAE strategic partnership， and bring more benefits to the people of two countries.

Zhang Shenfeng， Vice Chairman of the CCPIT， said that the China Pavilion of the Dubai World Expo has displayed a real， three-dimensional and comprehensive image of China through rich and colorful exhibitions， interactive experience of virtual and real display， glamorous lighting exhibitions and wonderful cultural activities. An audience from both China and globally can visit the “cloud China Pavilion” online for a remote visit. China is wiling to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with countries around the world， and make continuous progress towards building a community with a shared future for mankind through participating in the Dubai World Expo. It is expected that China and the UAE will deepen traditional friendship， expand areas of cooperation and achieve more mutual benefits and win-win outcomes through the Dubai World Expo.

Dimitri Kerkentzes， Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions （BIE）， said that with the theme of “building a community with a shared future for mankind”， the Chinese Pavilion will send a convincing message to the world at the 2020 Dubai World Expo. China calls on all countries to strengthen cooperation and work together to build a world of lasting peace， universal security， common prosperity， openness， inclusiveness and sustainability. This reflects China’s commitment and action for global cooperation based on the future of mankind and the earth.

Ni Jian， Chinese Ambassador to the UAE， said that in recent years， the political trust between China and UAE has been going much deeper， the bilateral economic and trade cooperation has yielded fruitful results， and cultural exchanges have flourished. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic， China and the UAE have carried out all-round cooperation， which has effectively supported their respective anti-pandemic efforts and made positive contributions to global fighting against the disease. China is ready to work more closely with the UAE to deepen political trust， increase cooperation under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative， further enrich the connotation of China-UAE strategic partnership， and create more benefits to people of the two countries.

“The Light of China” breeds hope

Taking a floor space of 4，636 sq.m.， the China Pavilion is one of the largest pavilions at the Dubai World Expo. It has also established a “cloud China Pavilion”， enabling an audience from all over the world to visit the site online. Themed with “building a community with a shared future for mankind-innovation and opportunities” and guided by the Belt and Road Initiative， China Pavilion aims to comprehensively exhibit China’s achievements in four dimensions， including common dream， common earth， common home and common future. A lot of new products and services would make debut at the expo， including lunar Probe Chang’e 5， the Beidou satellite， future concept cars and intelligent robots. The exhibition aims to display China’s scientific and technological achievements， convey China’s development concept and promote international exchanges and cooperation.

The China Pavilion is also called“l(fā)ight of China”， symbolizing hope and a bright future. Looking from a distance， the Pavilion looks like a magnificent lantern， symbolizing the light and prosperity that can be found when countries gather and unite on the platform of the World Expo. The main building is divided into inner and outer parts. The outer layer imitates the lantern keel and incorporates Chinese traditional architectural elements such as the corbel arch and a Chinese flower window pane； the inner layer is Chinese font matrix made with movable type printing， which is red during the day and changes into a light show at night through using digital programming technology. Such design have skillfully integrated Chinese cultural elements and modernity.

The China Pavilion attracted more than 5，000 visitors on the first day of its opening. The exploration and discovery exhibition area， innovation and cooperation exhibition area， opportunity and future exhibition area were most popular among foreign tourists. Wang Rui， director of the China Pavilion， said that these three exhibition areas feature high-end technology， new display techniques and interactive experiences. They have fully demonstrated China’s technological contributions to the world and shared with the world the developmental achievements in an easily understandable way.

The exploration and discovery exhibition area takes space as the background， with the “Tiangong” space station，“Chang’e 5”， “Tianwen 1” and “Beidou”satellite network as highlights， showing China’s latest achievements in space exploration from both macro and micro perspectives. An intelligent robot and a mysterious member of staff in the exhibition area lead tourists on a cosmic journey.

The innovation and cooperation exhibition area displays a virtual three-dimensional future city based on the real scene through a panoramic electronic sand table. Tourists can enjoy real life experiences such as community management， virtual shopping， intelligent medical services， online education and unmanned driving by scanning a two-dimensional code.

The opportunity and future exhibition area is a semicircular cinema with an area of 280 square meters， which shows the theme film “sailing”. By means of multi frequency linkage and spatial transformation， the film tells the story of Chinese and foreign youngsters jointly pursuing their dreams and working together in exploration of deep space. The film aims to express the common dream of mankind to explore the unknown， pursue dreams and create a better future for the mankind.

As of January 10， the China Pavilion has received 813，000 visitors and more than 2，000 guests from 58 countries and regions. Experiences that were highly popular among visitors included the Beidou system， China’s high-speed railway， the SAIC new concept car， a panda robot， and a light show.

In addition， the China Pavilion also takes the World Expo as a platform to promote economic and trade cooperation. Statistics show that as of January 10， the China Pavilion has assisted China’s provinces， autonomous regions and cities， cooperative enterprises and units to hold 28 activities， including 19 for provincial， autonomous regions and cities， 7 business activities and 2 activities for cooperative units. It has promoted the economic and trade cooperation between Chinese provinces and cities of Beijing， Jiangsu， Sichuan， Guangxi and Anhui and other world countries including the UAE. A large number of Chinese enterprises such as ICBC （Industrial and Commercial Bank of China）， Shanghai Electric， UBTECH， JOCIC （Jiangsu Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company）， Arrow Home Group and Gujing Wine Group appeared in relevant activities.