China's state-owned Huarong Asset Management Corp said Tuesday its joint venture with International Finance Corp and Cathay Capital Co (No 2) has officially started operations in Beijing. The venture, called Rongde Asset Management Corp, is the first sino- foreign joint venture in China engaged in asset purchasing, management and sales, Huarong said in a statement. Cathay Capital is a joint venture between Deutsche Bank and American International Group. IFC is the investment arm of the World Bank. While Huarong owns a 51 percent stake in the joint venture with a registered capital of 1.788 billion yuan (224 million US dollars), Cathay Capital, set up to focus on purchasing, managing, and disposing of non-performing assets bought from China, owns a 35 percent stake in Rongde and IFC owns the remaining 14 percent. The establishment of Rongde, with Huarong vice president Zheng Wanchun as chairman and legal representative, is part of Huarong's efforts to become a more diversified commercial entity, Huarong president Ding Zhongchi said.