A 30% stake in HP's Chinese operations is up for sale to the highest bidder as the company's Chinese partner looks to sell its shares.

In a filing (in Chinese) with the China Beijing Equity Exchange, state-owned China Electronics Import & Export Co. (CEIEC) invited bids for its stake in China HP and set a minimum price of 967 million yuan ($133 million) .

CEIEC will accept bids until Feb. 2 from qualified Chinese companies. Offers from financial institutions or hedge funds will not be considered, it said.

HP had little to say in response to CEIEC's offer, but reaffirmed the importance of China HP to its overall business.

"China is a critically important market to HP and continues to hold tremendous opportunities for our business. ... Whilst we do not comment on our financial or operational plans in the future, HP will ensure its business operations remain unaffected," wrote Joanne Tan, a company spokeswoman, in an e-mail.

China HP was founded in 1985 as a joint venture between HP and CEIEC. Over the years, the joint venture has been successful and China HP is a major player in key local markets, such as PCs and servers.

Joint ventures are a common way of doing business in China, with foreign companies tapping the experience and connections of a local partner.

In the best situations, these partnerships can help the foreign company build and grow their business in China faster than would otherwise be possible.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.