The Sixth China Hi-Tech Fair has set a record in the number of foreign participants.

A total of 21 countries and international organizations have exhibitions at the fair. The number is the biggest since the first fair in 1999.

A record was also set for the number of multinationals. There are 44 of them, such as Intel, Oracle and Sanyo.

While the total exhibition area of the French exhibitors is the largest of all foreign participants, Russia and South Korea also have large exhibition areas.

The French area covers almost 300 square meters for 40 companies.

Roey Fisher, an official with Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, said his country was attending the fair for the second time.

TeraChip and Matimop are two of the eight companies represented by the Israel booth. TeraChip is U.S.-based but has its research and development center in Israel.

Matimop, a non-profit public organization for the promotion of joint industrial development of advanced technology, claims to be a ¡°gateway to Israeli high-tech industry.¡±

Birgit Steininger, an official with Austrian Research Promotion Agency, introduced his country¡¯s nanotechnology development. He said there was plenty of room for cooperation between Chinese companies, Austrian research organizations and venture capital companies.

The fair¡¯s nine forums also feature many foreign speakers. The Ministerial Forum has ministers from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Myanmar, while the University Presidential Forum features speakers from universities including San Diego State University in the United States and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary.

While five of the six speakers for the Global CEOs Forum are non-Chinese, foreign speakers also scheduled for the World Technology and Economy Forum and a dialogue on intellectual property.

Editor: Olivia