If Shanghai is like New York City, then Nanjing, in the eyes of its Vice Mayor Wang Shouwen, is China's Boston, a secondary city with a strong sense of history that has secured a strategic place in Shanghai's city belt.

For years, Nanjing has benefited from the port city's leading role in developing the Yangtze River Delta region. When the 2010 World Expo rolls round next year this relationship should hit the next level.

"Nanjing is paying great attention to the opportunities that will be afforded by the six-month expo. The people of Nanjing have high expectations," Wang told China Daily.