A record number of exhibitors are expected at the 99th session of China's largest export commodities fair and 180,000 overseas buyers are expected to attend, a spokesman for the event said in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province on Thursday.

A primary indicator of foreign trade the fair has an exhibition area of 270,000 square meters with 30,058 exhibition booths, said spokesman Xu Bing. The fair opens tomorrow.

The 12-day event has 177,000 overseas buyers registered from 210 countries and regions, Xu explained. 

Of the 13,868 exhibitors slightly less than 30 percent are state-owned and 58 percent private and companies with foreign investment. 

A total of US$29.43 billion of deals were signed at the last fair in October 2005. Business done at the biannual event accounts for a third of China's general trade each year.

Among the buyers are 74 multinational firms such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour. The top five buyers at the last fair were the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the USA, Taiwan Province, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2006)