US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to 2010 Shanghai Expo site on Monday, when she appealed for sponsorship for the US pavilion.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers a speech during her visit to the USA pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in Shanghai, Nov. 16, 2009. [Ren Long/Xinhua]

"I know there are some audience still contemplating sponsorship and maybe in negotiation with the US pavilion team," she said. "Now it's the time to join this effort. We want to assemble the strongest team of partners possible."

Clinton addressed the sponsors in front of the US pavilion, which finished topping-off last month.

She extended her appreciation to sponsors including P&G, Honeywell, Intel and especially Boeing which agreed to double its contribution to 2 million US dollars.

"We were grateful for your generosity and steadfast belief in the importance of the expo, in American role here and what this US pavilion can do to strengthen the cooperation and partnership between the American people and people of China," Clinton said.

Jose H. Villarreal, US Commissioner General of Section of the US Exhibition to World Expo Shanghai 2010, said in September that the United States had raised about two thirds of its participation cost of 61 million dollars.

Clinton said she was looking forward to returning to Shanghai next summer to see for herself what the pavilion would look like and tour the magnificent grounds.