U.S. Road To The Shanghai Expo: About Half Way There

The American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing isn’t typically the forum for road-to-Damascus type conversions, but U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s oration at a lunch Wednesday appeared to have moved at least one of the assembled, bringing a Chevron executive to his feet to pledge $5 million toward the U.S. Pavilion at next year’s World Expo Shanghai.

Of course, it could have been the secretary’s desperation that made him so persuasive. So far only about half of the $61 million needed to build the U.S. Pavilion has been raised. That’s a vast improvement from the end of April, when the kitty held not much more than $1 million. And it’s enough to get construction rolling – Locke was in Shanghai Friday for the groundbreaking ceremony. But with only 288 days to go from the May 1 start of the Expo, it’s still well behind the construction of other national pavilions.

While most countries use government money to build and operate their national pavilion, a law passed by Congress in 1991 means U.S. government funds can’t be used for events like the Shanghai Expo. In the past that hasn’t proved a problem – the U.S. just didn’t go. The 2000 Expo in Hanover, Germany and the 2008 Expo in Zaragoza, Spain both were held without U.S. participation. The U.S. Pavilion at the 2005 Expo in Aichi, Japan was partly funded by that iconic American brand, Toyota Motor Corp.

But when American exceptionalism comes up against Chinese exceptionalism, something’s got to give. And it doesn’t help that whereas corporate America, despite the effort of promoters, is broadly unaware of Expo, China is putting the event on a pedestal comparable to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.