Security checks at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo site will be simpler than those at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games so that Expo visitors will feel free and comfortable, a senior Expo official said yesterday.

Visitors will be able to buy tickets and enter the Expo site without showing ID cards or registering their names, Zhang Keqin, director of the Legal Department of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said at the fifth 2008 Shanghai Expo Legal Forum.

People will be able to buy tickets for others as well as themselves, and they will be able to bring food and drinks into the Expo site, Zhang said. Cameras will also be allowed.

Organizers will examine the security checks at the Beijing Olympic venues and at Hong Kong Disneyland, but those at Expo will not be so strict, Zhang said.

During the Olympics, people needed to register their names and ID or passport numbers when buying tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies. Food, drinks and professional cameras were not allowed into venues.

However, Shanghai Expo organizers said they are not encouraging visitors to buy tickets for others or bring food into the site. Selling tickets for profit will be punished by city police, Zhang said.

"Too many bans will spoil the main objective of World Expo, which is cultural exchange," Zhang added.

Meanwhile, Mexico's state-owned ProMexico has announced a national contest to select designs for its pavilion. The federal organization is looking for designs that reflect the cultural and natural richness of the country.