Audit firms Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, PWC, Ernst & Young and KPMG in China facing major reorganisation

The 'Big Four' international audit firms face a major re-organisation in China as they are forced to abandon their foreign joint venture arrangements.

Following are facts about the Big Four accounting firms' China practices.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Deloitte opened its first office in Shanghai in 1917, but has seen the most significant growth in the region in the last eight years. Its workforce in mainland China and Hong Kong has grown to more than 8,000 in 2011 from 2,300 in 2003.

In 2005, Deloitte China underwent two mergers with local Chinese audit firms, Beijing Pan-China and Shenzhen Pan-China, bringing a number of large state-owned enterprises into the client portfolio.

Figures from the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) show Deloitte's mainland audit operations earned 2.6 billion yuan ($412.8 million) in 2010, the second highest of the big four.

Deloitte's China operations are the fourth-largest within its global network after the United States, Britain and Canada.

It has 16 offices across China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC)

PWC has more than 10,000 staff in mainland China and Hong Kong, with a history in the region stretching back to 1902. In 2011, the firm said it expects to recruit another 15,000 people in China over the next five years.

Its joint venture PWCZhong Tian had the highest revenues of the big four in China in 2010, according to the CICPA, at 2.96 billion yuan.

PWC opened two branches in China last year in Hangzhou and Nanjing, bringing its total on the mainland to 16. It plans to open another four branches by 2016.

Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young says it has more than 10,000 staff in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It is currently setting up a new office in Nanjing, bringing its total to 15.

Its joint venture Ernst & Young Hua Ming had revenue of 2.09 billion yuan in 2010, according to the CICPA.

KPMG

KPMG has around 9,000 staff in China and Hong Kong, according to its website, and was the first of the big four to get a licence for its joint venture KPMG Huazhen in 1992.

CICPA data shows the joint venture earned 1.86 billion yuan in 2010.

It has 13 offices in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. (Reuters)