A great number of overseas  businesspeople has registered to attend the Third China  International Hi-tech Fair, that is to be held early October in  Shenzhen, Guo Rongjun, the city's vice mayor, said here Thursday.

   Twenty-four international companies and nearly 1,600 investors  from 16 countries including the United States, Britain, Russia and Japan will participate at the fair, according to Guo.

   Three famous foreign experts, namely Zhores I Alferov, winner  of the 2000 Nobel Physics Prize, Robert Mudell, winner of the 1999 Nobel Economics Prize, and Hartmut Michel, winner of the 1988  Nobel Chemistry Prize, will deliver speeches at the fair.

   The fair has been held each October in Shenzhen since it was  launched in 1999, and it has made great contributions to  materializing China's domestic Hi-tech achievements.

   The previous two fairs reported a combined business volume of  15.1 billion U.S. dollars, according to sources.