SHANGHAI - Twenty heads of state or government would attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo on Friday, said the Expo's information office Thursday.

Among them are French President Nicolas Sarkozy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

Participants at the ceremony will also include Armenian President Serzh Sarkisyan, Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Kim Yong Nam, President of Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika, Malian President Amadou Toumany Toure, Malta President George Abela, President of Micronesia Emanuel Mori, Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, President of Seychelles James Alix Michel, and President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

Heads of government to be present at the opening ceremony are Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Masimov, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The six-month event will be the largest world exhibition ever and is expected to attract 70 million visitors from both home and abroad.