World construction industry has seen signs of warming up as the world's largest construction trade show opened here Tuesday with more Chinese manufacturers showing their growing presence in the market.

CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011 and IFPE 2011 opened their doors for a five-day run as the global industry gathering for the year and the largest gathering in North America since 2008 for the construction, construction materials and fluid power/power transmission/motion control industries.

IFPE (international fluid power exposition) is the leading international exposition and technical conference dedicated to the integration of fluid power with other technologies for power transmission and motion control applications.

The event, held every three years, is expected to attract over 100,000 visitors and more than 2,400 exhibitors, including all the leading names.

Chinese manufacturers such as XCMG (Xugong Group Construction Machinery Co. Ltd.), Zoomlion and Sany have booked more space than ever before, and more attendees came from China to look for chances to buy or sell their products.

The show is more international in scope with registrations already coming in from 135 countries outside the United States.

According to Al Cervero, senior AEM (Association of Equipment Manufacturers) vice president, the international attendees this year have exceeded the record year of 2008. AEM is the organizer of the trade show.

"The advance numbers are very encouraging given that many construction-related segments are still down, after a devastating recession with enormous job losses," said Megan Tanel, AEM vice president of exhibitions and events, in a press release.

"As the business climate begins to improve, it's an ideal time to check out the latest product advancements for more productivity and efficiency," he added.

"IFPE exhibitors' products are used in so many diverse applications that they were not as hard hit with the recession, but all exhibitors are looking toward the shows as a way to build momentum," said IFPE show director Melissa Magestro.

Cervero said that a lot of countries are developing their infrastructure, minerals and energy sectors and with this comes productive opportunities for the construction equipment industry.

The construction trade show opened at a time when a big improvement in the market for exports of U.S.-made construction machinery was reported, which closed out 2010 with a gain of more than 28 percent compared to the previous year, for a total of 16.4 billion dollars worth of equipment sold worldwide.

"Global trade is extremely important to our industry and export sales continue to sustain many companies as we still face a fragile domestic upturn. While these numbers are positive, we have to remember they follow a 2009 decline of more than 38 percent," Cervero told the media.

According to the Wall Street Journal, sales of machinery in the United States and Europe began rebounding last year from the recession-driven plunge of 2009, and such emerging markets as China, India and Brazil have remained strong amid heavy spending on roads, ports and other infrastructure.

Those countries become a growing market for the U.S. and European-made heavy machinery.

The trade show has also brought new businesses to Las Vegas, a city hard hit by the recent recession with a sharp drop of visitors.