U.S. private equity firm the Blackstone Group opened its China office in Beijing on Monday to further expand its business in the country.

The office shows Blackstone's confidence in China and the domestic market, said chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman, also the chief executive officer and co-founder of the company.

Fu Shan, the ex-vice president of Beijing Mainstreets Investment Group Corporation, a Shenzhen-listed real estate investment firm, is the chief representative of the new office.

Antony Leung Lam-chung, the former Hong Kong financial secretary, is the chairman of Blackstone Greater China. He said that cooperation with Chinese enterprises both at home and overseas were significant opportunities for Blackstone.

With nearly 113.5 billion U.S. dollars of assets under management, the Blackstone Group is an international global private equity firm whose services cover fund management and financial consultation.

Its shares were trading at 18.70 U.S. dollars on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

Last year, Blackstone made its first purchase in a Chinese mainland company by acquiring a 20 percent stake of China National Bluestar Corporation, the wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina), for 600 million U.S. dollars.

In June last year, Blackstone made big news locally when China's sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation, bought 3 billion U.S. dollars worth of shares in the company's initial public offering.

Blackstone lost 251 million U.S. dollars during the first quarter of this year, compared with earning of 1.13 billion U.S. dollars for all of 2007. The New York-based company was due to announce its second quarter earnings on Aug. 6.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)