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Zhuhai as an air show is not Farnborough and Paris where airline executives hobnob with manufacturers to announce billion-dollar aircraft purchasing deals. 
But with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic) set to sign a raft of new orders today, Zhuhai is gaining in importance as an aviation business-to-business event.
Insiders pointed out that the Zhuhai show also has the advantage of focusing the spotlight on the mainland's aviation sector, which is still crucially important for major international aircraft manufacturers and suppliers. 
Avic was tight-lipped yesterday on how many orders would be secured. But Comac and Avic both confirmed contract-signing ceremonies today.
For Comac, these will involve orders for its C919 narrow-bodied passenger aircraft that can seat between 150 and 190 passengers that are expected to be signed with Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. 
By comparison, Avic will sign a contract for its MA-90 turboprop passenger plane.
Speaking on the eve of the opening of the air show yesterday, aviation insiders said the C919 would mark the next generation of aircraft compared with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. 
Others point out the C919 is not due to make its first flight until 2014 with first deliveries scheduled for 2016. They  question if the deals are real commitments with the Big Three carriers paying over 5 per cent of the purchase price in non-refundable deposits. They also point out that even though the Boeing 737 has been in service since the 1960s, the C919 has higher operating costs per seat hour than both the B737 and A320.
But while doubts remain about China's ability to produce the C919 and its smaller rival, the ARJ21, in sizeable quantities, the deals are a further sign of the country's growing focus as an aircraft manufacturing centre.
The presence of the Big Four global commercial aircraft manufacturers shows they still regard the mainland as one of the world's leading aviation markets. 
This is shown by Airbus' commitment to send one of its four A380 superjumbo to the show despite recent engine problems. 
Airbus, Embraer and Bombardier will also hold briefings today explaining how they see aircraft demand developing in China.  
Engine and component suppliers such as Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, which has returned after an absence of several years, will also market themselves to the mainland market. 
But the air show will also confirm the tremendous strides Zhuhai airport itself has taken to attract passenger and cargo traffic since it opened in 1995.
 The number of daily passenger flights totals about 60 to destinations including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu - up from just a handful when the airport first started operations. 
 The number of airlines using the airport has more than doubled to about 10 compared with just four years ago. 
And while insiders said real growth will only come when Zhuhai airport achieved international gateway status similar to Shenzhen, the number of passengers grew to 1.4 million last year, up 74 per cent on 2006.
Under current projections, a second runway will be added sometime after 2020, while further infrastructure will be built as part of the overall development strategy to make Zhuhai an aircraft manufacturing and research and development centre.
An aviation industrial park has already been built at Jinwan district, close to the airport on the main highway to Zhuhai, which will eventually grow to more than 99 square kilometres.
The expansion of the airport, perhaps not as dramatic as Shenzhen standards, reflects the growth in industrial development that has taken place west of Zhuhai city. 
Where there were fields and banana plantations eight years ago there are now factories, research and development centres, housing developments and car showrooms. 
Companies such as Samsara Cosmetics, Panasonic, Hettich International and Mektec are near neighbours to Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi showrooms.
The main highway to the airport is now a growing industrial corridor to rival how Shenzhen-Dongguan must have been 15 years ago. This growth is expected to get further impetus with the opening of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai intercity rail link and the second phase of Gaolan port.
Similarly, China National Offshore Oil Corp has started construction of the first phase of its Zhuhai Jinwan liquefied natural gas  terminal, which will provide additional fuel supplies to the Zhuhai region when inaugurated in 2013.
The Big Three buyers
Air China, China Eastern and China Southern are likely to sign C919 deals 
The number of passenger flights each day at Zhuhai airport now totals: 60



Zhuhai air show puts spotlight on aviation sector