Expo 2025 Osaka closes; Shenzhen Week marked city exchange

Overview

Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, which opened on April 13, 2025, closed on October 13, 2025, after 184 days. According to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, cumulative visits as of October 13 totaled 29,017,924, of which 3,438,938 were entries by staff and others holding accreditation (AD) passes. Excluding these, general visits came to about 25.58 million. Cumulative ticket sales stood at 22,069,546 (provisional figure).

Background

During the Expo, the China Pavilion hosted theme weeks organized by local governments across China. Shenzhen held its "Shenzhen Week" for three days from May 12. Shenzhen and Osaka have been sister cities since 2010, and 2025 marked the 15th anniversary of the relationship.

Under the theme "A Day in a Future Shenzhen Community", Shenzhen Week used a 165-square-meter hall to present green energy, smart living, intelligent health care and innovative connectivity. Sixty Shenzhen companies showcased their technologies and products, and UBTECH's Walker C humanoid robot greeted visitors at the pavilion entrance.

Key Points

• Exhibits: Zones included a Smart Park reflecting Shenzhen's image as a "City of a Thousand Parks", a Streetscape Zone showing a three-dimensional transport network of drones, new energy vehicles and smart folding bikes, and an Ecological Camping Zone featuring solar-powered backpacks and solid-state batteries.
• Cultural program: Segments of the Shenzhen-produced dance drama "Wing Chun", a fashion show of Xiangyun Sha, a traditional Lingnan silk, and demonstrations of tea culture were presented.
• Shenzhen–Osaka Innovation Cooperation Conference: On the afternoon of May 12, a conference organized by the Shenzhen Municipal Government at the Imperial Hotel Osaka drew nearly 150 government and business representatives from China and Japan. More than 30 Shenzhen companies, including Tencent, BYD and Honor, presented their innovations, Japanese companies such as Panasonic and Itochu took part, and agreements were signed at the event.
• Figures presented: Trade between Shenzhen and Japan was about US$26.4 billion in 2024, up 16.4%; Japanese investment in Shenzhen exceeded US$3.8 billion, while Shenzhen's investment in Japan stood at US$430 million.
• Company moves: Panasonic said it had set up the China headquarters of its projector business in Shenzhen, and Tencent Cloud outlined plans to open a data center and office in Osaka.

Item	Figure (as of October 13, 2025)
Period	April 13 to October 13, 2025 (184 days)
Cumulative visits	29,017,924
Of which AD pass entries	3,438,938
Cumulative ticket sales	22,069,546 (provisional)

What It Means for Japan–Shenzhen Exchange

The Expo gave Shenzhen companies and culture a chance to reach a broad Japanese audience directly. The display of Shenzhen's strengths in robotics, new energy and smart devices is likely to have raised interest in Shenzhen's innovation among Japanese business people and the public. The conference also highlighted Japanese companies establishing bases in Shenzhen and Shenzhen companies planning operations in Osaka, suggesting that investment and business expansion are moving in both directions.

With the 15th anniversary of the sister-city relationship coinciding with the Expo, city-to-city exchange between Shenzhen and Osaka and the wider Kansai region is drawing renewed attention. How the business connections made around the Expo develop into concrete cooperation is now a point of interest. Companies from Shenzhen and Guangdong with Japanese customers, such as a Guangdong robotics start-up that reported selling a physiotherapy robot to a Japanese client, also used the occasion to raise their profile with potential partners.

Outlook

Ticket sales figures were still provisional at the close and are expected to be finalized after post-event settlement. No specific framework has yet been announced for maintaining the ties built through the Expo between companies and local governments in Shenzhen and Kansai.

From the Association

The Association closely follows Shenzhen–Japan exchange on international stages such as the World Expo. We will continue to share information that supports exchange between companies and organizations in Shenzhen and across Japan.