HONG KONG - Who wants to be a millionaire? Potentially hundreds of millions of people in China do.

The popular TV quiz show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" is about to see the launch of possibly its most competitive edition with its Chinese debut.

Dutch company 2waytraffic, which holds the global rights to the show, said Thursday that it has licensed a Chinese company to produce a local edition of the program.

China Media Co. will air at least 104 episodes of the show nationally starting in May, 2waytraffic said in statement on its Web site.

The deal marks the show's exposure to the world's largest potential viewership. China has about 1.3 billion people - 20 percent of world's total.

It won't be the first time the show has aired in the Chinese-speaking world, however.

Hong Kong's ATV station launched a local version of the show several years ago, although it was broadcast in the southern Chinese dialect of Cantonese. The mainland Chinese edition will likely use Mandarin, the country's national language.

Separately, 2waytraffic said it has also licensed Slovenian state broadcaster RT and Slovak Television to use the "Millionaire" format. Those deals mark the relaunch of the show in the two countries after earlier versions.

The Dutch company has also extended its deal in the US with Buena Vista Television for two years, which will prolong the show's run there to 2011.