Staff of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau have confidently been able to serve more than 12,000 reporters from both home and abroad, having gained experience during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and other important international events held in China.

Song Chao, director of the press center of the Shanghai World Expo, said over the last few months since the international event opened on May 1, thousands of reporters have struggled through the Expo crowds to capture something special for their audiences.

The Bureau said the press center has organized more than 100 press conferences and group interviews. Located beside the Huangpu River, the press center is in a building called the "Expo Center."

With a total floor space of 12,000 square meters, the Expo Center was built for the Expo and will later become a permanent venue for annual sessions of the city's parliament and political advisory body.

The International Broadcasting Center (IBC), at the press center, is obligated to provide broadcast signals for large events during the six-month operation of the Expo, including the opening and closing ceremonies and national pavilion days.

The Shanghai Media Group, one of the largest media organizations in China, is responsible for producing broadcast signals. The 1,000-strong production team has produced more than 260 hours of live broadcast programs for the Expo.

According to a letter sent by the Reuters Shanghai Bureau, to the press center, Reuters' 47 subscribers worldwide rebroadcast the Expo's opening ceremony on April 30 and 21 subscribers rebroadcast the grand opening of the Expo site on May 1, using the common broadcast signals provided by the IBC.

According to the Expo Bureau, about 120 overseas TV stations in regions, such as Europe, central and western Asia and both North and Latin America, used the common signals.

In a letter sent by Germany's AED Fernschen, a major TV network, the organization said it was grateful for the technological help provided by the press center, which ensured the success of its Expo program, broadcast at the end of April, with an audience of nearly five million back in Germany.

News organizations have all geared up to cover the World Expo. Among the 552 Hong Kong and Macao reporters, there are about 20 journalists of Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao. Mao Jie, director of the newspaper's Shanghai bureau, said all reporters stationed in Shanghai had come to cover the Expo and there were also ten in Hong Kong participating in the coverage.

Mao said he was "impressed by the fine coffee provided by the press center."

Also for the convenience of the reporters, the press center has installed automatic massage armchairs, similar to those at the Beijing Olympic Games.