The Commercial Aircraft Corp of China will exhibit a miniature model of the country's biggest home-developed aircraft, the C919, at the China International Industry Fair, which will start next Tuesday in Shanghai.

This is the first time China's main aircraft manufacturer will show off the model in Shanghai, and the fair strives to highlight the importance of China in the global industrial arena.

A total of 1,869 companies, with more than a quarter from overseas, will take part in this year's fair, the city government announced yesterday.

"Although the financial crisis has dealt a heavy blow to the global exhibition business, China is still attractive to the world's industrial companies given its strong economic growth and its huge development potential," said Sha Hailin, director of the Shanghai Commerce Commission.

This year's fair also boast a 5.7-percent increase in the number of exhibition booths to 5,302, compared with last year's event.

Fifty-five domestic and overseas universities will also take part in the fair this year, and an agency, set up by Shanghai Education Commission, will try and match the universities' lab research programs with hi-technology enterprises participating in the fair.

The agency can help the firms by reporting their needs and requirements to the universities, said Zhang Yonghua, deputy director of Shanghai Education Commission's Science and Technology Development Center.

The commission plans have a permanent pavilion in Yangpu District in December, which could be a platform for technology trading between schools and enterprises.