2010 Shanghai Expo Theme Song Sounds… Japanese Pop

Some Japanese online media on China news reported that the opening theme of Expo 2010 Shanghai China, which is coming next month, is very similar with a Japanese pop song released last century.
A Japanese singer/songwriter Maya Okamoto’s “Sonomama no Kimi de ite”(そのままの君でいて) in 1997.

Shanghai Expo Theme Song “Waiting you in 2010″(2010等你来) sung by Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and a lot of Chinese stars.

Both songs sound very similar for me. On the movie, lyrics and music are credited to another persons so this may not be a authorized cover song.
via Ascii.jp [J] and Searchina [J]
[Update 2010-04-18] AP reported that Shanghai Expo secretariat suspended use of the theme song.
[Update 2010-04-19] Japanese music news media Natalie reported [J] that Shanghai Expo officially took the original song of Maya Okamoto as the opening theme. It is so quick and fair. I appreciate all efforts to settle this down peacefully.
[Update 2010-04-22] Maya Okamoto’s 15th anniversary best album was originally planned on May 10th without this song. However, by strong demands, Nippon Clown decided to dump the all pressed CD and re-press a modified version with this song on postponed May 26th. via Asahi.com [J]

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