scene of the groundbreaking ceremony

Hong Hao, Director-General of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination

Hu Maoyuan, President of SAIC

Kevin Wale, GM China Group President and Managing Director

Construction began today on the pavilion for the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and General Motors at the 2010 Expo Shanghai.

The 6,000-square-meter pavilion will explore the theme "The Road to the Future" with a vision of a safe, convenient and intelligent traffic system within 20 years.

Visitors will see what vehicles might look like in 2030.

The 6,000-square-meter pavilion is shaped like a huge metal bowl and stands beside the Huangpu River in the Puxi section of the Expo site.

Company officials said the pavilion will be a "great surprise" and show the development of the world's automobile industry, as happened at the World Expo in 1933, according to an earlier Shanghai Daily report.

an artist's rendition of the pavilion for the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and General Motors

an artist's rendition of the pavilion for the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and General Motors

At the 1933 World Expo in Chicago, the GM Pavilion first proposed the idea of freeways.

Sixteen years after the Expo, the world's first freeway system was built in the United States.

The car makers have invited children in China to draw pictures of what they think cities will look like in 2030.