UBS has opened a locally-incorporated office in Beijing as it moves to become one of the leading wealth management providers in the country.

UBS AG Beijing Branch is now known as UBS (China) Limited following an approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to convert its status into a wholly foreign-owned bank. UBS is the first Swiss bank to have a wholly-owned unit incorporated in China.

"China represents one of the most important markets in the world for UBS. We are committed to expanding and broadening our products and services here to meet the needs of clients," said Axel Weber, chairman of UBS, at the opening ceremony in Beijing.

Also present at the opening was Chi-Won Yoon, the chief executive for Asia-Pacific.

By receiving a WFOB status, UBS can start offering products and services that were previously available only to domestic banks and WFOBs. These include RMB trading capabilities in the interbank market and structured and qualified domestic institutional investor products.

UBS has a multi-entity domestic platform in China, which allows it to develop its core business: wealth and asset management and investment banking. In October 2012, the Swiss bank announced that it is realigning its business to return to its private banking roots. UBS (China) supports the wealth management and credit and rates operations.

UBS also has a joint venture with the State Development Investment Corporation named UBS SDIC Fund Management, where it holds a 49 per cent equity stake. Its other business in China is UBS Global Asset Management, which focuses on domestic non-securities equity investment management and advisory.

The Swiss-headquartered bank has a presence in all major financial centres worldwide. Around 12 per cent of its 64,000 staff are in Asia-Pacific.