Citic Securities, China’s largest securities company, is teaming up with Evercore Partners, the US investment bank, in a joint venture that will make direct investments and advise clients on both sides of the Pacific.

The new company, Citic Securities International Partners, will be headed by Donald Tang, the former vice-chairman of Bear Stearns.

In forming their new relationship, the two sides are hoping that China’s increasing integration with the world economy and financial markets will not be derailed by the meltdown in the markets. China’s exports have been hard hit by the consumer-led recession in the west and its economic growth has slowed sharply in recent months.

In addition to providing advice, the new firm plans to raise a $500m private equity fund to provide growth capital and consolidation capital to Chinese companies, with shareholders committing some of the funds and outside investors the rest.

Wang Dongming, Citic Securities’ chairman, has long harboured ambitions to transform Citic Securities into a truly international company.

Mr Wang has considered listing Citic Securities outside China, and recruiting expats who can transform the culture of his company into a global player.

He has also studied Japanese brokerage firms, which he says never made that transition and whose importance in the world shrunk during Japan’s “lost decade”.

The relationship also enables Evercore to build up a presence in Asia commensurate with its growing profile in Latin America and Europe.

In recent months, the Chinese have been expected to provide rescue finance to distressed US firms and acquire many US companies on the cheap.

However, China has been badly burnt in taking stakes in US financial firms. This has left many Chinese companies reluctant to progress further for fear that they may be criticised at home for losing money and attacked in Washington for taking advantage of weakened US companies.

Instead, the Beijing government is encouraging its stateowned enterprises to invest in resource and commodity firms, such as Chinalco’s planned investment in Rio Tinto.

Mr Tang, who put the two sides together, has had a long relationship with Citic Securities – it had planned to exchange shares with Bear Stearns just before that firm’s implosion.