On November 7, 2024, the “Inheriting the Expo Spirit and Promoting Sino-Japanese Civil Exchange” forum was successfully held in the multi-functional hall of Shanghai Hongqiao Platinum Greenland Hotel. Co-organized by the Expo Museum and China Business News, the forum brought together many guests from government, associations, enterprises and public services to discuss the inheritance and development of the Expo spirit, as well as the opportunities for cooperation between Chinese and Japanese civil society in the fields of culture and economy, with a view to injecting a new impetus into the promotion of friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.

　　Inheritance of the Expo Spirit and China-Japan Private Exchanges Receive Much Attention.

　　Luo Zhisong, Chief Economist of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said in his speech that the World Expo has cultivated a large number of convention and exhibition talents for Shanghai and enhanced the internationalization level of the city. At the same time, he emphasized that China-Japan civil exchanges play an important cornerstone role in promoting the economic and trade development of the two countries.

Chief Economist of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce

Luo Zhisong

　　Du Jian, Deputy General Manager of CBN, pointed out that the current world economic recovery is underpowered, and the Fair and Expo carry the mission of promoting international understanding and win-win cooperation. During the coming year's Expo 2025 Osaka, CBN will carry out in-depth cooperation with the Expo Museum, taking the full tracking and reporting as an opportunity to actively build an international exchange platform, and promote Sino-Japanese business cooperation and cultural exchanges.

Deputy General Manager, First Financial

Du Jian

　　Reviewing the History of World Expo and Looking Forward to Future Cooperation

　　Mr. Zhou Hanmin, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), former Vice Chairman of the DAB Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the 13th Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and President of the Shanghai Association of Public Diplomacy, delivered a keynote speech on “From the World Expo to the Fair, Promoting a High-Level Openness. The speech briefly reviewed the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, which was themed on cities, attracted the participation of 190 sovereign states and 56 international organizations, with an unprecedented scale and influence of 73.08 million visitors, and elaborated on the spirit of the World Expo in five aspects, including people-centeredness, cultural plurality, scientific and technological innovation, win-win cooperation, and future-orientedness.

　　Zhou Hanmin especially mentioned the active participation of Japan in the Shanghai World Expo, the Japanese Pavilion with the theme of “harmony of heart and technology”, which demonstrated the rich culture and scientific and technological power, and its Joint Industry Pavilion has also become the highlight of exchanges. He emphasized that Sino-Japanese people-to-people exchanges should go deeper into people's hearts and minds, with special attention to the youth and the elderly, so as to promote the long-term development of friendly relations between the two countries.

Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Former Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic Construction Association of China (DAB), Vice Chairman of the 13th Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and President of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association

Zhou Hanmin

　　Jing Ying, First Class Inspector of Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and President of Shanghai Association for the Promotion of International Exchanges of Social Organizations, shared the origin of the theme “Better City, Better Life” and Shanghai's active role in the process of bidding for the World Expo, in her speech “Strengthening Sino-Japanese Folk Exchanges and Promoting Local Cooperation in the New Era. In her speech on “Strengthening Sino-Japanese Folk Exchange and Promoting Local Cooperation in the New Era”, Jing Ying shared the origin of the theme “Better City, Better Life” and Shanghai's active exploration in the process of bidding for the Expo. Through the cultural symbol of Crested Ibis, she told the common story of China and Japan in ecological protection and cultural exchange. The sensational performance of Shanghai Dance Theater “Crested Ibis” in Japan not only conveyed the concept of environmental protection, but also enhanced the emotional exchanges between the two countries, and she believes that this “bird of peace” will continue to convey the friendly friendship during the Expo and Osaka World Expo.

First-class inspector of Shanghai Municipal People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, President of Shanghai Association for the Promotion of International Exchanges of Social Organizations

Jing Ying

The Power of Museums and the Prospect of Osaka World Expo

　　Liu Wentao, Director of the World Expo Museum, introduced the development history of the Expo Museum and its efforts in passing on the Expo spirit. Since its opening in 2017, it has received more than 4 million Chinese and foreign visitors, and has played an important role in cultural inheritance, education and popularization, and international exchanges by organizing exhibitions, launching cultural products and carrying out brand activities. She also revealed that the Expo Pavilion will actively prepare for its participation in the Osaka Expo 2025, fully displaying the Expo's history of helping sustainable development and cases of sustainable urban utilization, and looking forward to the attention and support of all parties.

Director of the World Expo Museum

Liu Wentao

　　Masanobu Nada, Chief Representative of the Osaka International Economic Revitalization Center (OIEC) Shanghai Representative Office, reviewed the journey of 50th anniversary of the friendship between Shanghai and Osaka, which has resulted in extensive and fruitful exchanges between the two cities in a variety of fields, including economy, culture and sports. Looking ahead to Expo 2025 Osaka, he introduced the theme, scale and innovative highlights of the Expo, such as holding it on the sea, big-roofed buildings, next-generation mobility and demonstrations of carbon-neutral technologies. He said that Osaka City will capitalize on the Expo to strengthen cooperation with other countries, promote innovation and exchanges, and advance local development, and looks forward to more frequent exchanges and cooperation with Shanghai in the future.

Chief Representative, Osaka International Economic Promotion Center Shanghai Representative Office

Masanobu Nakaba

　　In the final roundtable discussion session, Lin Hao, founder of Sumida River Coffee, Xiong Shishi, partner of Hejun Consulting, and Wang Yuxi, assistant to the president of Yingfan Technology and head of CBNData, also discussed the new opportunities of China-Japan business exchanges and cooperation under the guidance of the spirit of the World Expo.

　　The successful organization of this forum has built an important platform for China-Japan civil exchanges and business cooperation, and the in-depth discussions and sharing of guests from all walks of life have provided new ideas and directions for future cooperation between the two countries in the fields of culture and economy, which will help China-Japan friendly and cooperative relations to develop continuously.