Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Social media giant Twitter will open an office in Hong Kong next year

Social media giant Twitter has said it will open an office in Hong Kong in the first quarter of 2015.

The messaging service has been banned from operating in China since 2009 over fears that it could be used to organise protests against the government.

However, Twitter said it wanted to tap into the next phase of its growth in the Asian region by expanding in Greater China.

The office will house sales staff and joins the likes of Google and Facebook.

"Our upcoming Hong Kong office in the first quarter will enable us to pursue strategic opportunities in Greater China, such as China export advertising market, Hong Kong and Taiwan advertising markets, media partnerships, and our new Twitter Fabric integrated with MoPub for mobile developers," the company told the BBC on Friday.

The opening would be Twitter's fifth office in the region, with operations already in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney.

In August, Twitter said it was opening an office in Jakarta, with Indonesia being one of its biggest markets.

"With half of all internet, mobile and social media users worldwide in Asia today, we see many opportunities across the region," a company spokesperson said.

News of the expansion comes as Twitter reported a disappointing 7% fall in timeline views per user - a closely watched measure of engagement - despite 23% growth in its user base in the third quarter last month.

The company also said its fourth-quarter revenue might fall short of market expectations of $448.8mn (£283mn). New York-listed Twitter shares are down almost 36% this year.