ABSTRACT
A couple of months into the course of Expo 2010, rumours began to circulate about a possible extension of the event. China Daily reported that ‘organizers handed out questionnaires to the sponsors and participants to collect their feedback on a proposal to extend the event this year’ (Wang 2010: para. 3). Expo spokesperson Xu Wei quickly dismissed this possibility. The same article from China Daily explains that the ‘World Expo is governed by the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), established by an international convention signed in 1928 to oversee the calendar, bidding, selection and organization of the fair’ (ibid.: para. 5). It goes on to quote Tomoko Iimura, a communications official for BIE:
According to Article 3 of the Paris Convention of 1928, which is the founding international convention of the BIE and establishes the rights and responsibilities of Expo organizers and participants, a World Expo cannot last any longer than six months.
(ibid.: para. 7)