Feb. 8, 2010 (China Knowledge) - German anti-virus software company Avira GmbH announced recently that it has established its new regional headquarters in Hong Kong to fuel its expansion in the region, sources reported.

Hong Kong is a strategic location with a well-established free market economy and legal system, and a pool of talent, and it serves a premier gateway to tap into the vast opportunities of North Asia where there are more than 380 million Internet users, said Tjark Auerbach, Avira's founder and CEO.

The company currently has 4.6 million users of its free English version of anti-virus in North Asia. It has already established offices in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

Avira will launch the simplified Chinese version in the next three weeks and traditional Chinese version in May. It also plans to open an office in Beijing in the first quarter of this year.

Simon Galpin, general director of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, said that the company looks forward to working closely with Avira to facilitate its expansion in the region through its regional headquarters.

Avira has more than 100 million personal and enterprise customers worldwide and hires more than 330 employees in seven countries.