Firms on the rise and restructuring drive Deloitte's revenues upwards

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu started in Shanghai in 1917 but a series of events drew down its presence in China before starting up in Hong Kong in 1972 and then returning to the mainland with a new emphasis in 1981, according to Peter Bowie, chief executive for China, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

In 2003, Deloitte's made the decision to make the China market a priority and put in place a programmed five-year investment of US$150million, Mr Bowie said.

The firm now operates out of 10 offices in each of the principal cities in the mainland, as well as Macau and Taiwan, and employs almost 6,400 people - of which about 4,600 are based on the mainland.

With revenues growing at high double-digit levels, Deloitte's China operation is now profitable, and generates most of its income from audit services, Mr Bowie said.

'The China market is at a different stage of development compared with the United States, Britain or Canada, where audit contribution is much lower, and the reason for this is the rapid growth and restructuring of Chinese companies which is driving the demand for audit,' he said, adding that the second-largest contribution to revenues is from tax services.

'We also have a group that focuses on risk management and governance - enterprise risk services - and a corporate finance and restructuring group that is driven by demand arising from mergers and acquisitions and the entry into China of foreign companies.'