Visitors can buy a single card to pay for all their expenses such as food, transport and souvenirs at the World Expo 2010 site starting yesterday.

The Expo Commercial Card, issued by the Expo organizer and Shanghai Commercial Investment Co Ltd, a state-owned company, are on sale at China Post and China Telecom outlets across the country. The card is refundable.

The cards cost 200 or 500 yuan. People can add money to the card at 7,000 locations across the city.

The card will be another means of payment apart from cash and credit cards at the Expo site.

It can pay for expenses at 178 stores and restaurants at the Expo site, including those opened by foreign pavilions, which account for more than 90 percent of all the stores and restaurants at the site.

Some discounts will also be offered at some restaurants at the site.

The card will be especially convenient for foreign visitors because they won't need to exchange currency, said Wei Ran, director of the company's Expo Project Office.

It is expected more than 20 percent of the total expenditure at the Expo during the 184-day event will be paid for through the card, he said.

Outside the site, the card can be used at 3,000 stores in Shanghai so far, especially those at the Xujiahui area, Nanjing Road E., Huaihai Road and the Hongqiao and Pudong international airports.

It can also be used at 3,000 outlets in Beijing. It will be expanded to 20,000 stores across China after the 2010 event.

Water and other drinks will be banned at the entrance to the Expo, so visitors need to buy drinks inside. Rides on eight-seat, golf cart-like vehicles will also carry a charge. Other shuttle buses are free.