The British Virgin Islands, the British territory with one of the largest corporate registers in the world, has opened its Asia-Pacific regional office in Hong Kong. 

The launch of BVI House Asia comes amid growing demand for closer ties with the jurisdiction, particularly in the Greater China region. According to BVI, more than 40 per cent of its financial services business is from Asia. 

The BVI Government has been visiting Asia since 1989 after the passage of its Business Companies Act and in 2009 signed a tax information exchange agreement with the People's Republic of China. Since 2003, the government and industry have increasingly promoted itself at events in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore and Hong Kong. 

In Asia-Pacific, BVI's range of services include asset protection, property holding, financial management, trading, copyrighting, trust services and investment business. 

"Deepening financial services in this critical market has always been our goal. We see a growing and continued demand for our services, such as trusts and succession planning, from clients in Asia, including Mainland China," said Dr D Orlando Smith, premier of the British Virgin Islands, in a statement. 

BVI is currently in 24 tax information exchange agreements worldwide and is in negotiations with at least 10 other countries. Its corporate registry has around 450,000 active companies.