Shanghai-based 21Vianet Group is planning to offer China’s first public cloud computing service by a multinational company, making Microsoft’s Windows Azure available for public preview.

It said the service will be commercially available on 6 June this year but early adopters have already been working with the colocation provider – one of the largest in China - and Microsoft to develop applications on the platform, including business management software company Kingdee and social networking site RenRen.

Microsoft Greater China CEO Ralph Haupter said Microsoft has taken a collaborative approach towards its delivery of cloud services in the country, working closely with 21Vianet and the Shanghai Municipal Government under a strategic partnership that will also see it deliver Office 365 technology for use throughout China.

“I believe this collaborative approach is why we are the first multinational in the world to bring public cloud services to China,” Haupter said.

IDC said that it believes the cloud computing market in Asia will grow from US$3bn in 2012 to more than US$19bn by 2016, and China has been pushing to become a lead player in this growing APAC business.

Chinese municipalities have been forming strong relationships with vendors and internet companies to try and foster the growth of cloud infrastructure in the country and associated technologies to help government and local businesses benefit from the efficiencies cloud computing can bring as China’s economy grows.

Microsoft runs more than 200 cloud services worldwide and Windows Azure is already offered in 89 countries through eight sub regions – the most recent of which was announced for Australia just this week.

Microsoft said Windows Azure allows for the quick deployment of applications through Microsoft-managed data centers with an emphasis on scaling as you go using on-demand Infrastructure-as-a-Service.

21Vianet operates in 43 cities throughout China.