The new head of NYSE Euronext is set to take the exchange's long-standing rivalry with Nasdaq onto new territory next week when he opens the exchange's first Chinese office, only a week into the job and days after Nasdaq established its Chinese presence.

Duncan Niederauer, the chief executive of the world's largest stock exchange group who took the job two days ago, is to host next Tuesday a ceremony to mark the opening of NYSE Euronext's first representative office in mainland China.