Kevin Wale, head of GM in China, calls the World Expo which opens tonight in Shanghai the “Olympics of technology”. He might as well call the $55bn (€41.5bn, £36bn) event the Olympics of branding: a chance for foreign multinationals to peddle their products – from Coke that freezes instantly when opened to GM cars that park themselves – to 70-100m mostly Chinese people who will attend the six-month show.
In spite of complaints of a tougher environment in China from some foreign companies, scores of multinationals have invested heavily in the event.
Brenda Foster, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, says the participation of US companies – several have their own pavilions and corporate America contributed more than $60m to build the USA pavilion – “is one of many indicators that US companies are increasingly committed to the China market”.