BEIJING, June 4 -- Shanghai World Expo ticket sales recently hit the 5 billion yuan mark and there was a total of nearly 6 billion yuan in operation profits, said Hong Hao, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai Municipal Government and chief of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination on June 1.

According to sources, some group tickets that were previously purchased through a contract have not yet been used. This part of the revenue will be given to dealers as operating costs. About 6 billion yuan of the 10.6 billion yuan budget will come from operating revenue and about 4 billion yuan will come from market development. One billion yuan will be paid to the dealers as budgeted costs.

"We will strive to ensure the balance of payments," Hong said.

Statistics show that there are 40 million Expo tickets on sale, while only 8 million tourists have visited the Expo. Therefore, the number of potential tourists is huge. Aside from remaining tickets on sale, more than 2.5 million Expo tickets were distributed in the "Expo gifts" free giveaway to Shanghai residents in June, which is expected to bring 3 million additional tourists to the Shanghai World Expo.

Hong added that the consumption per capita at the Expo Park is now down to below 40 yuan compared with 50 yuan when the Expo Park opened.

"It refers to the average consumption of the overall number of people consuming at the park," Hong said. "From investigation results, pricing departments have learned that consumer prices at the Expo Park, especially food and beverage prices, are becoming more reasonable."