Industrial services and scaffolding rental company Harsco Corp. last week said it has entered into a joint venture partnership for rental scaffolding, formwork and shoring services and equipment with one of the largest construction groups in China.

Harsco’s agreement with Zhejiang Construction Materials and Equipment Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Zhejiang Construction Group, brings together Harsco’s extensive global expertise and resources with Zhejiang, which has annual sales of more than $6 billion. The joint venture will initially target major project opportunities in the commercial building, infrastructure and industrial plant maintenance sectors of Zhejiang Province, a rapidly growing region on China’s east coast that ranks as the country’s fifth largest province economically. Zhejiang has become a center for China’s chemical, electromechanical and textile production and a focal point for economic and infrastructure development. Its 11 major cities are ranked among the top 30 in China for per capita income.

The partnership will be based in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province.

The joint venture agreement was signed at an official ceremony in Hangzhou attended by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke; Ambassador Ronald Kirk, President Obama’s senior trade representative; and Zhenjiang Provincial Governor LuZushan.

“This is an exciting new gateway for Harsco into one of the world’s most buoyant construction economies,” said Salvatore Fazzolari, Harsco chairman and CEO. Fazzolari said Zhejiang is “a company whose size and stature rank among the very best in China and whose focus on supporting economic growth and development directly complements our own.”

Harsco will own a 70-percent equity share in the new joint venture company. Operations are expected to begin in the latter part of the first quarter of 2010.

“We believe that over the longer term, China has the potential to be a significant market for Harsco’s services and products,” Fazzolari said.

Harsco is based in Harrisburg, Pa. Its Patent Construction Systems division, based in Paramus, N.J., which handles North America business, is No. 18 on the RER 100.