Security: measures in place

Yang Xiong said Wednesday keeping the city safe is the top priority for the Shanghai government and armed police will be deployed to maintain order when necessary.

"Security is a big challenge for us as the expo. There will be a larger number of visitors over a longer period of time than the Beijing Olympics, and the expo site is larger than the Olympic venues' area," said Yang.

An increasing number of police wagons are patrolling downtown areas. Tube stations are conducting more baggage checks and guards have been stationed on all buses of the 42 Expo routes and at thousands of bus stops.

Shanghai has employed thousands of guards for the expo site and visitors will have to pass through airport-style safety check before getting being allowed to enter the park.

"The guards will maintain order. But when the flow of visitors is extremely large, the police police will be of help," said Yang.

"We are considering new new safety checks to protect visitors while minimizing disturbance," he said.

Vicente Gonzales Loscertales, Secretary-General International Exhibition Bureau (BIE) said, "The expo is like a very sensitive machine, you need to adjust the machine very very often in order for it to run smoothly."

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2010)