The Shanghai World Expo is scheduled to open in May, 2010, and organizers are paving the way for ticket sales to begin later this month. The expo's organizing committee has already signed contracts with thirteen agencies which will be in charge of the ticket sales.

Four of the agencies responsible for the sale of tickets on the Chinese mainland are China Mobil, China Telecom, China Bank of Communications and China Post. Meanwhile, nine other agencies are in charge of sales in the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Taiwan. They also cover ticket sales in various foreign countries, including Japan, Australia, the US and Canada. Agencies responsible for other foreign countries will be selected soon.

Chen Xianjin, vice director of Shanghai World Expo Bureau, said, "We expect overseas visitors to account for five percent of total ticket sales, that's around 3.5 to 4 million tickets."

The four agencies on the Chinese mainland will make use of their local three-thousand strong network to sell individual and group tickets. More mainland tourist agencies selling group tickets will be announced during an upcoming tourist trade fair in April. Ticket sales will get underway on March 27th. The Shanghai World Expo will also sell tickets by mobile phone, for the first time in World Expo History.