HONG KONG/Zurich (Reuters) - Swiss private bank Julius Baer Gruppe AG BAER.S plans to set up business in China in partnership with a local financial firm as part of its strategy to boost growth in Asia, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Julius Baer aims to establish a majority-owned joint venture to tap the rapidly growing wealth in the world’s second-largest economy and has started looking for a partner, said the people. The plan comes as China, the world’s second-largest country by number of billionaires, has been rapidly opening up its financial sector for bigger foreign participation. If successful, Julius Baer will be the first major private bank to set up a wealth management joint venture in China. Its plan to establish onshore presence is reported here for the first time. Booming stock markets and a flurry of new listings have created five new dollar billionaires in China each week for the past year, according to the Hurun China Rich List 2020 released earlier this month. China’s wealth management industry is the fastest-growing in the world but has historically been linked to the sale of high-risk, illiquid investment products and lax regulatory oversight. That made offshore business - where banks help Chinese clients manage their riches in locations such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich - the preferred route for most global wealth management firms.