5,200 volunteers attend ceremony to launch service for import expo
Volunteers for the upcoming China International Import Expo attend a ceremony on Saturday to launch their services at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai.
Volunteers in uniforms vow to be devoted to their job.
About 5,200 volunteers recruited from universities in Shanghai and neighboring provinces will start work for the first China International Import Expo from October 23, Shanghai Youth League said on Saturday.
The volunteers, wearing red jackets or white sweaters, will be posted both inside and outside the venue, the National Exhibition and Convention Center, where the event is going to be held from November 5 to 10.
Among them, 30 were recruited from Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.
Guo Yanqi, a junior student who studies industrial engineering at China Jiliang University in Hangzhou City, once worked as a volunteer for the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang.
“For a whole week, I gave directions for visitors in an exhibition hall,” she said. “It was quite tiring, but I felt very happy because such international events opened my horizons.”
Ge Xuezheng, a graduate student of Arabic from Shanghai International Studies University, had already started to prepare documents before the ceremony.
He said he often has to work till late night and sleep in the office, but he fully understands the importance of his job.
“Being a volunteer at the import Expo will be an important experience for me to serve my country and get used to international occasions,” Ge, who has been offered a job at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said.
Priyanka Shakya, a senior student from Nepal who studies textile engineering at Shanghai’s Donghua University, is another volunteer.
Shakya, who speaks fluent Chinese and has been active in volunteer work in Shanghai, said the volunteer work has helped her make new Chinese friends and feels the country’s development through those events.
“This import expo will be a feast of the whole world and especially for those countries from the Belt and Road region,” she said. “I believe the event will yield many results that benefit people of both China and those countries.”
Since late June, 152 volunteers recruited among universities and companies have started their services.
