Chinese clients are eager to expand outside the world’s fastest-growing major economy and Ernst & Young is planning a near four-fold jump in its China staff over the next decade to meet that demand, said Chief Executive James Turley.
The firm, one of the world’s “Big Four” auditing firms, also plans to open two to three new branches annually over the next few years, focusing expansion in western China to support Beijing’s “Go West” economic policy, Turley told the Reuters China Century Summit on a visit to Shanghai, China’s financial hub.
Competition for accounting talent among the four major accounting firms in China is fierce, with many CEOs of foreign companies complaining that it is difficult to find enough qualified financial experts as they expand their business in China.
