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Shanghai is confident that it will make a profit of more than 9 billion yuan (110 million U.S. dollars) if it hosts the 2010 World Expo.

According to Wednesday's China Youth Daily experts estimate that admission fees will bring in 7.3 billion and the sale of food and drink 1.3 million, without counting any other source of income.

It is expected that 43 million people will visit the expo.

The paper quoted a Shanghai tourism official Yao Mingbao as saying that each yuan spent at the expo will bring 4.3 yuan to industries such as transportation, electricity and telecommuncations.

The city is putting every effort into its bid to host the 2010 World Expo, which if successful will increase China's commercial contact with other countries and bring many new business opportunities.

Chen Liangyu, acting mayor of Shanghai and director of the bidding committee, said recently that east China's financial sector, with the support of the central government, is confident in its ability to host the fair because of the city's well-known economic and cultural dynamism.

If Shanghai wins the bid, it will be the first time in the 150 year history of the event that a developing nation has hosted the fair.

Russia, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Poland and Argentina have also filed applications to the International Expositions Bureau (BIE) to be included in the bid.