(by Eloisa Gallinaro).
    (ANSA) - Beijing, November 26 - China is gearing up to report on the Universal Exposition in Milan next year with a website in Italian - China.com - and a Chinese-Italian bilingual mobile app to officially cover all events at the food-themed event.
    The Italian desk of China Radio International is preparing the site and app entirely dedicated to the Milan Expo 2015 as the broadcaster gets ready to report daily, across all its platforms, on all of the events at the fair kicking off on May 1 and continuing through October 31 under the banner 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life'.
    Many of the 6.5 million Expo tickets purchased so far have been sold in China, a country that will have three pavilions at the exposition.
    Jin Jing, who is in charge of the broadcaster's Italian department, told ANSA that the radio network has already signed agreements with the three Chinese pavilions.
    "The website will be ready in a month and we are working on an app for Chinese restaurants in Milan, of which there are a few hundred," she said.
    The two new initiatives are an addition to mainstream newscasts already in place - the 'Cinitalia' magazine in Italian and English, which has reached its third issue, the radio's website and its daily programs.
    The broadcaster is also working on an idea to organize a forum together with Italian media.
    Jin is perfectly fluent in Italian and her team at the radio network includes 30 Chinese and five Italian nationals reporting for six hours of broadcasts aimed at an Italian public with a systematic coverage of ongoing events in China to present the Milan Expo.
    From Beijing to Hunan and Guandong provinces, their thorough coverage of events is also possible due to the "cooperation of Chinese institutions, from the commissioner for Expo to provinces and municipalities", she said.
    Expo "is an occasion to expand the Italian section of our radio", stressed the director of China Radio International for Western Europe and Latin America, Zhu Boying, explaining that the State broadcaster, which already has a newsroom in Rome, is "the only one to broadcast abroad in foreign languages", including international language Esperanto, and is increasingly investing in multimedia.
    The new app in the works could also involve Italian restaurants to promote Italy's cuisine, said Jin.
    China is eyeing Expo with great interest, noted Zhu.
    "One million, perhaps 1.5 million Chinese tourists are expected to arrive in Italy", said the editor.
    Tourists are being drawn by Expo but also by numerous other events around Milan and Italy overall.