Australian clothing retailer Cotton On plans to boost its presence in China to challenge peers like H&M and Uniqlo.

Cotton On is currently seeking a partner which could help it grow its brand in the world’s second largest economy, where it plans to open more stores.

“We’ve obviously followed a few of the largest fast-fashion retailers up there, which are Uniqlo, Zara and H&M. At some stage over the coming years, we’d like to start to replicate that up in the China market as well,” CFO Michael Hardwick said during an interview in Singapore, where the company recently opened its Asian headquarters.

Cotton On currently operates 1300 stores worldwide, 160 of them in Asia.

The company expects Asia to account 20 per cent of its total sales this year from 15 per cent a year ago.

Cotton On Group, which also operates brands including Cotton On Body, Cotton On Kids, Rubi Shoes, Typo, T-bar and Factorie and Supre, was established in 1991 as a family-run business.