US representatives are preparing to break ground as soon as next week on the American pavilion for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, ending months of speculation over whether the globe’s leading power might be a no-show at what is being billed as the largest ever world’s fair.

Shanghai, China’s largest city and financial centre, has latched onto the Expo as its chance to establish its global profile as a dazzling metropolis in the same way last year’s Beijing Olympics turned the world’s attention to the nation’s capital.