SHANGHAI: Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP is planning to raise 5 billion yuan for its first yuan-denominated fund that will invest in Shanghai and its neighboring areas.

Blackstone, the world's largest buyout firm, plans to set up its wholly-owned China subsidiary Blackstone Zhonghua Development Investment Fund in the financial institution-concentrated Pudong New Area, the company said in a statement on the website on Friday, when it also signed a memorandum of understanding with the local government on the fund's creation.

Eighty percent of the fund's capital will be raised in China, while the balance would come from overseas limited partners, according to International Finance News reports.