On November 2, 2009, President Kojima visited Baoshan Iron & Steel ("Baosteel") and met with Chairman Lejiang Xu, President Wenbo He and other top executives.
Baosteel is China's largest steelmaker. The company was launched in 1978 when China resolved to create its first integrated steel mill. Situated in a coastal area and equipped with the latest technologies, the new mill was to serve as a flagship for the new era of Chinese economic reform.
Business talks regarding the first phase of the new venture's development got underway in December 1978. Since that time, Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has won numerous contracts for projects, including orders for hot and cold rolling mills as well as power facilities. Today, MC continues to maintain an office at Baosteel in order to follow up on various types of plant-related business.
Over the years, MC has cultivated wide-ranging business with Baosteel. After learning of Baosteel's desire to manufacture its own steel rolling equipment, MC launched a joint venture with Baosteel in 1995 to engage in the manufacture of such facilities. Metal One is also developing a broad range of business with Baosteel, extending from resources procurement to steel production.
Collaboration with Baosteel is not limited to the steel industry. MC has also teamed with the Baosteel Group to establish joint ventures like Baoland, which is involved in real estate development, and Nanjing Baoning Chemical, which produces modified pitch for use in aluminum smelting.
With joint businesses developing across various fields in this way, top executives from Baosteel and MC have been meeting regularly for talks since 1995. During the latest round of talks last November, new forms of exchange were proposed, encompassing the exploration of business possibilities in new fields, such as environmental business and new energy, and the exchange of information regarding industrial trends. While promoting exchange from a global perspective, we will continue to cultivate diverse ties with Baosteel in order to capitalize on new opportunities.

Expo 2010 Shanghai China ("Shanghai Expo") will open to the world on May 1, 2010. Shanghai City is now running at full speed in an effort to achieve its goal of attracting 70 million visitors. By surpassing the 65 million mark set by the Osaka Expo in 1970, the Shanghai Expo is poised to become the largest world expo in history.
The Chinese government has dedicated 30 billion yuan (approx. 400 billion yen) to the event. The expo site is being developed on approximately 5.3 square kilometers of land, located on both sides of the Huangpu River, not far from central Shanghai. Work on infrastructure, such as subways, highways and tunnels, is also proceeding throughout the city.
The theme of the expo, "Better City, Better Life", is extremely timely because it succinctly describes the changes underway in Shanghai and China while also addressing problems currently confronting Chinese cities and seeking to lay out a course for future development.
Shanghai has achieved remarkable growth since the introduction of market reforms in 1978 and the city has emerged as both a symbol and an engine of China's economic development. Shanghai now boasts more high-rises of 20 stories and above than all of Japan; you can feel the city growing bigger-and taller-every day. The subway network is constantly being expanded. If you glance at a subway map of Shanghai today, you could easily mistake it for the subway network of Tokyo or New York.
The changes underway in Shanghai go beyond infrastructure development. As suggested by the theme "Better City, Better Life", the standard of living in Shanghai is continuing to rise in step with economic development and the needs of consumers are rapidly changing. Shanghai is now awash with products and information. Young people, especially those born in the 80s and 90s, are keenly interested in foreign fashions and lifestyles. With the spread of the Internet, on-line shopping and other new forms of business are growing rapidly. These trends have begun to extend beyond Shanghai into neighboring areas such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The industrial structure is also changing, shifting away from manufacturing and toward a more service-centered economy.
Seizing on the great economic and social change underway here, Mitsubishi Corporation (Shanghai) Limited ("MC Shanghai") has grown to become one of MC's largest overseas offices. MC Shanghai coordinates with more than 60 business investment companies in East China. In addition to our traditional trading activities, we are pushing ahead to identify and expand new business focused on internal demand and domestic sales as well as environmental business and energy conservation, while continuously seeking to foster partnerships with Chinese companies.

Each year, the start of the Chinese New Year* is preceded by a massive migration of workers returning home for the holiday. More than 100 million people travel during this period as families across China come together to enjoy a special meal on New Year's Eve. This tradition, which dates backs thousands of years, continues to endure in Shanghai.

• *The Chinese New Year is held on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar; this generally falls between January 21 and February 20 on the Gregorian calendar.

Shanghai has many department stores, specialty shops and hypermarkets, but this doesn't seem to be enough to satisfy the appetite of female consumers here. Today, women in Shanghai are buying all kinds of items via the Internet, from clothes and accessories to everyday goods and movie tickets-on-line shopping appears to have become a part of their lifestyles. Some women are even making arrangements for weddings or interior remodeling via the Internet. Many fashion magazines have also launched on-line shopping operations. The Chinese website of the Japanese fashion magazine "mina" now records monthly sales in excess of one million yuan.

These days, it is not unusual to come across roads in Shanghai that are closed to traffic. This is because work on many infrastructure projects is moving forward at a fervid pace in preparation of the start of the Shanghai Expo this May. However, many of these projects are actually part of a long-term initiative, which is scheduled to be completed in 2020. This includes the development of a giant terminal linking airport facilities with highways; a subway network with approximately 20 lines; 17 tunnels and bridges crossing the Huangpu River; and the world's largest Disneyland resort. While we certainly hope you'll visit Shanghai in 2010 for the World Expo, we also hope you'll return in 2020, when an even more convenient Shanghai will be unveiled.