China will remain the focus of the World Economic Forum next year, while Northeast Asia is expected to top the agenda, an official with the Forum said on Saturday.

"The reality is that the attention around China is going to stay on for a long time because China is soon to be one of the largest economies, if not the largest in the world," Lee Howell, the Asian Department director of the World Economic Forum, said in an interview with Xinhua.

China, together with India, once again grabbed the spotlight when world businessmen and politicians kicked off their five-day meetings on Wednesday in the Swiss ski resort Davos.

The Chinese economy is going to maintain the momentum at least in the short term, according to forecasts by some participants.

This year, around 2,400 participants took up a variety of issues, ranging from the world economic future, climate change and geopolitical changes to technology and society. Howell said that next year the three Northeast Asian countries -- China, Japan and South Korea -- may top the agenda.

"The next year will be an interesting year for Asia, particularly East Asia," Howell said, adding that the agenda is yet to be decided.

"In 2008, of course, there will be great celebration of the Beijing Olympics, but also Japan is to be the president of G-8, and also South Korea will have a new president," Howell said. "So it will be an interesting year, I hope, particularly for Northeast Asia, that we will see strong presence from those three countries in Davos in 2008,"

Behind more attention was the high expectation for China to take more responsibilities, Howell said.

"That is positive because people are at least not feeling threatened by that. People look to China to take more responsibilities," Howell said. "But China also has to manage expectations because you can not do everything."

There were up to 80 Chinese participants at the annual meeting this year, much more than last year. But Howell thought it was still not enough.

"We have more participants from Asia, but I think what people expect in the coming years is more Asia overall, much more Chinese participation," Howell said. "The expectations are more Asian-Pacific voices in Davos."

Source: Xinhua