Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s NetJets unit named its partners as it presses ahead with plans to start a corporate-jet business in China.

In his annual letter to shareholders last month, Berkshire Chairman Warren Buffett wrote that NetJets, which sells partial shares in planes and rents them on a per-use basis, planned to enter China with "first-class partners," though he didn't identify them.

The company on Monday said it would team up with a consortium of Chinese investors led by Fung Investments, part of the private investment arm of the families of Victor Fung and William Fung, and by a unit of Beijing-based private-equity fund Hony Capital. The joint venture and its operating base will be in Zhuhai, on the southern coast of China's Guangdong province.

"The Chinese aviation market has phenomenal growth potential and we believe that introducing the NetJets service in China will enhance our brand's global offering for customers around the globe," said NetJets Chairman and Chief Executive Jordan Hansell.

Mr. Hansell last year was named NetJets CEO after the unexpected departure of longtime Buffett lieutenant David Sokol.

NetJets, which derives 80% of its revenue from North America and the balance from a Lisbon-based European joint venture, sought regulatory approval last year to begin an operation in China. That market remains small, in part because business-jet flying has been limited by the large tracts of airspace reserved for the Chinese military and rapid commercial-airline growth.

The company last month reported that its pretax profit rose to US$227 million in 2011, building on the momentum of the recovery after its US$711 million loss in 2009.