"I am optimistic about the outcome," said Shen Yuanhong, vice chairman of the 1998 China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in the southern city of Zhuhai.

"I believe that the current show will have a better outcome than the previous one" in 1996, where $2.0 billion in contracts and agreements were signed, Shen told a news conference ahead of the exhibition's opening.

Organisers of the arishow expected to lure more than onemillion visitors to the eight-day event, which will be launched on Sunday by vice-premier Wu Bangguo and Li Peng, China's top legislator.

At the airshow's 60,000 square-metre (72,000 square-yard) grounds, near the Zhuhai airport, companies such as Boeing Co, Airbus Industrie and Air China put the finishing touches on their booths in cavernous exhibition halls.Some 480 firms inthe aerospace sector, including around 200 foreign companies from 25 countries, will display their wares at the show, which was expected to attract more than 20,000 overseas trade visitors, Shen said.

Full-size mock-ups of Long March 3B and 2E rockets loomednear the entrance of the exhibition centre, where crowds of onlookers craned their necks to gawk at military and commercial aircraft taxiing into place on the exhibition ramp.

About 100 aircraft would be on display at the airshow, wherethe public would also catch its first glimpse of China's domestically-developed FBC-1 fighter-bomber, and see planes ranging from Boeing's new 717-200 to unmanned mini-aircraft, Shen said.

Seven flight demonstration teams were also scheduled to soarover the exhibition, including the first public appearance of China's August First aerobatic team and displays by Russian, British and Canadian pilots, he said.The airshow, planned to be held in Zhuhai every two years,is sponsored by the Civil Aviation Administration ofChina, China Aerospace Corp, Aviation Industries of China, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the Chinese government.

The event was desinged to promote China's fledgling aviationand aerospace sector, Shen said.

"We believe that market factors are playing a dominant rolein international competition," he said. "We are paying attention to expanding China's potential market in an increasingly mature market economy."

Zhuhai, a special economic zone next to the Portuguesecolony of Macao, built new roads and hotels for the event, as well as a new press centre, airshow organisers said.