Chinese President Hu Jintao has visited the Shanghai World Expo 2010 Australian Pavilion as part of an official inspection to the Expo site.

 

The Australian pavilion was the only international pavilion included in the president's tour.
President Hu spent almost half an hour at the three-storey building and took time to meet and shake hands with many of the Australian and Chinese workers onsite. He was accompanied by Australian Pavilion Director Peter Sams and Bovis Lend Lease’s Australian Pavilion site manager Liao Haibin (pictured left), telling them he looked forward to the Australian Pavilion becoming a highlight of Shanghai World Expo, according to a statement released by Bovis Lend Lease.
Bovis Lend Lease won the A$49.15 million tender to provide construction, exhibition and technical operations services to the pavilion in 2008. Several other Australian companies are involved in the construction of the pavilion, including design by Melbourne architecture firm Wood Marsh in conjunction with Think!OTS and the outer shell provided by BlueScope Steel.
The World Expo will officially open on May 1 with an estimated 80 million people expected to pass through the site when it runs for the six-month period to October. More than 7 million visitors are expected to pass through the Australian pavilion alone during that time.