The number of visitors to the Shanghai World Expo 2010 topped 70 million Sunday, reaching the expectation of the Expo Bureau before its opening on May 1, according to the official Expo website on Sunday.

Some 451,200 visitors entered into the Expo site by 11 a.m. Sunday, bring the total number to 70.159 million, the 177th day since the event started.

"The news is exciting and it' s an encouragement for the organizers," said an official with the Bureau of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Visitors continue to swarm to the site during the final days of the event, breaking a record for the maximum attendance on a single day on October 16 as 1.03 million people visited the Expo with an originally estimated maximum capacity of 600,000 people.

The last week of the Expo from October 25 to 31 will be designated days, during which daily numbers will be limited to 400,000 to 500,000, said Huang Jianzhi, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination on October 16.

The number of visitors broke the previous record set during the 1970 Osaka World Expo in Japan, which attracted 64 million people, on October 18 when it reached 65.8 million.

The biennial Expo opened on May 1 for a six-month run under the theme of "Better City, Better Life," with some 190 countries and 50 international organizations participating.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2010)