THE largest trade fair in China, due to open today for its first session of 2011 in the southern city of Guangzhou, may have fewer overseas buyers than the last session due to the north African unrest, Japanese earthquake and global inflation, organizers said.

The 109th China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, has become so large that it is spread over three five-day sessions, twice a year.

"The number of overseas buyers is estimated to drop from 3 to 5 percent from that of the last session," said Liu Jianjun, deputy director of China Foreign Trade Center, the organizer, yesterday in Guangzhou.

According to available data, the number of overseas buyers from African countries such as Libya and Ivory Coast, would dramatically decline, said Liu.

The number of Japanese buyers might also drop due to the earthquake, but the impact would be slight for the efforts made by Japanese industrial and commercial institutions which said they would actively organize buyers to visit the fair.

Over 6,000 Japanese buyers came to the last session of the fair, said Liu.

Japan needs building materials for its earthquake reconstruction and China is well placed to meet much of that demand.

Japan is the third largest trade partner of China, and bilateral trade accounts for 10 percent of China's foreign trade volume, said Liu, adding that the number of buyers from the European Union and the United States should remain steady.

Contracts of imports to China signed at the fair may rise from the last session on the central government policies in boosting domestic demand and the yuan's appreciation.