* Anthony Bolton to return to managing money in 2010

* Bolton to manage new China portfolio; launch in Q1 2010

* Bolton to move to Hong Kong in Q1 2010 (Refiles to fix wording of quote in paragraph 7)

By Parvathy Ullatil

HONG KONG, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Fidelity International's Anthony Bolton, one of the UK's best known and top performing asset managers, said he plans to return to managing money next year, with a focus on the increasingly important China market.

Bolton, who retired from active fund management in 2007, said he would move to Hong Kong early next year to manage a new China investment portfolio, which would likely be launched at the end of the first quarter of 2010.

"The centre of gravity is shifting to this part of the world and I want to play a part in it while I can," Bolton, a 30-year veteran of Fidelity, told a media briefing in Hong Kong.

Bolton shot to fame for managing the Fidelity Special Situations fund since 1979, turning every 1,000 pound ($1,670) invested at its launch to 148,200 pounds over the 28 years that he ran the fund, according to Fidelity.

Bolton, 59, is not the first high-profile British executive to announce plans to move closer to China in recent months. HSBC said in September that its chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, was moving to Hong Kong from London.