scene of the signing ceremony

Zhou Hanmin, deputy director of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai Executive Committee, delivers a speech.

Eric Han, General Manager of Yum! Brand Inc's China Division and Senior vice president of KFC Brand, gives a speech.

Yum! Brands Inc, the owner and operator of KFC and Pizza Hut, became the first sponsor in the catering field to offer to help build a US Pavilion yesterday with KFC and Pizza Hut signing letters of intent for the preparatory organization for the pavilion and for providing financial support to the project.

Zhou Hanmin, deputy director of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai Executive Committee, Dan Whitaker, Director of Sponsorship Sales of Shanghai Expo 2010 Inc and Eric Han, General Manager of Yum! Brand Inc's China Division and Senior vice president of KFC Brand, attended the signing ceremony.

The US Expo team is now "very optimistic" that the US can collect enough money to take part in the Expo, said Felix Wong, director of the International Marketing and Partnerships Department of the US steering committee.

"It was a great challenge for the US to collect funds for its Expo pavilion during the global financial crisis, but we believe the country will be able to showcase itself at the first Expo in China," Wong said.

The US has made an oral confirmation for participation in the 2010 event. Up to 190 countries and 48 International organizations have confirmed participation.

The design of the country's 6,000-square-meter planned Expo pavilion has been completed. The pavilion will present a dynamic and emotional story that radiates powerful core values shared by both the Chinese and American people – sustainability, teamwork, health and the fundamental belief that America is a place of opportunity where those who seek to change the world for the better will always thrive and prosper, according to the Website of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

A US law prohibits the US government from funding the Expo pavilion, so it must be built with private money.

The US business community in Shanghai responded well after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote a letter to the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai on March 30 to urge local US corporations to "strongly support" the Shanghai event, said Wong.

In accordance with US legal requirements, the US Pavilion is being funded and operated through Shanghai Expo 2010 Inc, a non-profit organization co-chaired by Ellen R. Eliasoph and Nick S. Winslow.

Editor: Yang Jian