The Big 4 accounting firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY, KPMG) are not entirely banned in China, but they face severe restrictions and scrutiny. PwC China received a six-month suspension and fines in September 2024 for auditing failures regarding Evergrande. Furthermore, Chinese state-owned enterprises have been directed to phase out using Big 4 firms over security concerns.
Most of Arthur Andersen's international practices were sold to members of what is now the Big Four – notably EY globally; Deloitte in the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, and Brazil; and PwC in China and Hong Kong.
The China arm of the accountancy firm PwC has been banned for six months and fined a record 441m yuan (£47m) over its audit of the collapsed property developer Evergrande, according to Chinese authorities.
Chinese customs authorities this week told customs agents that Nvidia's H200 chips were not permitted to enter the country, Reuters reported. Sources have also said government officials summoned domestic tech firms to warn them against buying the chips unless it was necessary.
Chinese regulators recently suspended PwC China for six months. They fined the company a record 441 million yuan ($62 million) for audit failures related to Evergrande—the most significant penalty ever for a Big Four accounting firm in China.
In February 2025, PIF announced a wide-ranging ban on employment of PwC's consultants. The ban was brought into place shortly after PwC hired around 70 forensic investigators, mostly from Deloitte Middle East in a coordinated poaching operation in October (IO, 17/02/25).
KPMG China has offices located in 31 cities with over 14,000 partners and staff, in Beijing, Changchun, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Dongguan, Foshan, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Hangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Taiyuan, Tianjin, Wuhan, Wuxi, ...
Chinese citizens do not have access to Google services using standard local networks within mainland China, as Google is completely blocked.
Which websites are not blocked in China? While it may seem like almost all the popular sites that you probably access daily would most likely be blocked in China, there are some well-known sites that are not blocked. Sites like Amazon, Yahoo, Microsoft, Skype, and Zoom are all available.
Size. If the size is an issue for you then it's worth noting that MBB is around a tenth of the size of the Big 4. As of 2022, McKinsey employs over 37,000 people working across 130+ offices in 65+ countries. BCG has over 90 offices in more than 50 countries around the world and also employs about 25,000 people.
Yes, roughly 90% or more of households in China own their homes, making it one of the highest homeownership rates globally, driven by cultural emphasis on property as stability, significant housing reforms since the late 1990s, and high household savings, though this also leads to high prices and affordability issues for younger generations. While most own property, they hold long-term land-use rights (often 70 years), as the land itself remains state-owned.
In China, "996" refers to a grueling work schedule: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, totaling 72 hours, originating from the country's tech industry to drive rapid growth, but it's controversial, considered labor exploitation, and has faced government crackdowns despite some tech leaders' endorsements as a path to success.
Investing $10,000 in Apple (AAPL) stock in 1990 would have yielded an astronomical return, making you a multimillionaire many times over by today, with calculations suggesting it would be worth tens of millions of dollars (or potentially over $100 million with dividends reinvested) due to incredible growth, stock splits, and the success of products like the iPhone, though exact figures vary slightly based on calculation dates and dividend reinvestment, Yahoo Finance.
The "Rule of 90" in stocks most commonly refers to Warren Buffett's advice for his wife's inheritance: 90% in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund for growth and 10% in short-term government bonds for stability, designed for long-term investors. However, a more pessimistic "Rule of 90-90-90" suggests 90% of new traders lose 90% of their capital within 90 days, highlighting the high failure rate due to lack of education, emotional trading, and poor risk management.
KPMG's UK partners will receive record pay averaging £816,000 following an 11% increase in pre-tax profits to £404 million. The Big Four firm's cost-cutting measures boosted profits after it recorded revenue growth of just 1% to £2.99bn in the year to September 2024.
Alphabet. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is audited by EY, according to its statement following the 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Alphabet paid EY $6.5 million in fees for auditing and other professional services across its 2024 fiscal year, the statement shows.
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