(Yicai Global) March 7 -- NASDAQ has named Sina Corp, one of China's biggest online media firms, its official service provider for local data services as it looks to tap the growing number of investors in the country.

Beijing-based Sina will provide the Chinese market with access to two of NASDAQ's most widely-used real-time data platforms, namely, NASDAQ Last Sale and Global Index Data Service, it said in a statement. NLS provides information on all US-listed stocks, including those on the New York Stock Exchange, while GIDS publishes over 40,000 indices and over 750 exchange-traded fund valuation data points.

"The growing pool of Chinese middle-class investors is increasingly interested in diversifying their assets and looking for overseas investment opportunities," said NASDAQ Managing Director for Asia Pacific Global Information Services Tomas Franczyk.

NASDAQ has seen growing interest from China's fintech firms in creating trade products so that domestic investors can diversify their portfolios internationally, Franczyk said, adding that there has also been stronger demand from corporate clients in China looking to access expanded data services including US equities, futures and other products.

Sina operates news portal Sina.com as well as a popular microblogging platform Weibo, which boasts 376 million monthly active users, which is 46 million more users than US equivalent Twitter Inc.