BEIJING - The British telecom company BT Group PLC said it will further expand in the Asia-Pacific region, especially China, by greatly increasing its investment and employee numbers to counter challenges from global economic uncertainties.

Ian Livingston, BT Group's chief executive officer, said about half of its business revenue comes from global operations. The Asia-Pacific region and Latin American market have had the strongest performance with a double-digit growth rate in recent quarters.

The company has recruited 300 new employees in the Asia-Pacific region in the past 18 months, and it hopes to hire 300 more in the next 18 months. Most of these employees are based in Northeast Asia, especially China.

"We are supporting multinational companies when they expand business to China. Meanwhile, as more and more Chinese companies go global, we want to help them in the fields of network solutions," said Livingston on Monday.

As the UK's biggest fixed-line phone company, BT also provides network services - including unified communication, web security and data centers - in 170 countries. It is the largest global provider of network services for multinational companies, Livingston said.

The finance, petroleum and retail industries are BT's major focuses in China. Companies such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Construction Bank Corp and Air China Ltd have already partnered with the telecom company in operating their business overseas, said Eliza Kwok, managing director of BT China.

Wang Jianzhou, chairman of China Mobile Communications Co, the parent company of the world's biggest telecom carrier by subscriber number, said in September that China Mobile was in talks with BT about potential cooperation in areas such as international roaming and data centers.

The other important Chinese business for BT lies in providing network services for foreign companies, such as Procter & Gamble Co and Uniliver PLC. "Among the biggest global clients of BT, more than 80 percent of them have the intention of expanding their business in Asia, particularly, in China," said Kevin Taylor, BT Asia-Pacific president.

"Their expansion creates business opportunities for BT, so we should move earlier than our clients and strengthen our service capability in the region," Taylor said.

BT posted higher-than-expected second-quarter earnings and sales in early November, driven by consumers snapping up broadband services and multinational companies agreeing IT deals, Reuters reported. In the corporate Global Services division, core earnings in the three months up to September increased by 15 percent.