PwC China as a bridge between China and the rest of the world

Yicai：Earlier this year, PwC globally unveiled a new brand proposition marking a significant strategic evolution. So tell us more about that. Why have you done that?

Hemione：The new brand is really about a few things. It is responding to changes in technology and innovation and is also a recommitment from us in our trust and quality because that really underpins the brand and always has. And personally, I really like the brand. I like orange, and that helps. But it's very much about momentum and being forward-looking, and that helps us attract talent as well. So I think it's exciting. 

Yicai：How much strategic importance would you give to China in your global PwC network?

Hemione：China is very important to us in our network. As you say, the second largest economy in the world. But of course, China is important to us because it's important to our clients. It's very important to our clients across the globe. We've been investing in China for a long time. We have been in Hong Kong for over 120 years and we were the first international firm to set up in the Chinese mainland in 1979. And we have been a big part of helping Chinese companies access capital markets both domestically and overseas. And we continue to be very focused on that. By market capitalisation, we audit 55% of the Chinese companies that are listed in the US and a third of the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong. So it remains a really big market for us at PwC. But we are also focused on supporting multinationals in accessing China. And our survey shows that 57% of executives at multinationals see China and their investments in China as improving their efficiency and as a big area of investment for them. So, it's very strategically important to us and has been for a long time, but it's also a big part of our future. There's a lot of change, a lot of development, and China is growing.

Yicai：Looking forward, how would you define PwC China's long-term role here in China? How are you going to further strengthen your presence here? 

Hemione：Well, we are very much committed to China, and we see our role in China as two different things. We help domestic clients, and about 60% of our business here is Chinese clients. We help them domestically, but we also help them internationally. We help them access the world, and we have a China business network to support them with that. We have China business desks in 45 territories across the world where we have people who can help Chinese companies understand the rules, the regulations, the issues they may face, the risks that they may face in those territories. And then the rest of our business, 40% of our business here, is helping multinationals access China. And there we do the same thing, but in reverse. We help multinational clients understand the rules in China, understand compliance requirements, tax requirements, other things, so that they can operate well in China. So, I would say we're a bridge for China and the world.

Yicai：You know, China is a very competitive market, especially almost every industry, including the professional service industry. So, in this fiercely competitive market, professional services market, what makes PwC different? 

Hemione：The thing that stands us out at PwC is always quality and experience. So from a quality perspective, we have a culture of continuous improvement. We have learnt the lessons from previous challenges and invested in significant remediation and training to ensure that we are providing high-quality services, top-quality services to all our clients and that does attract talent, but also experience and that comes from our client base. We have a fantastic client base and that means we can give our people experience, great industry experience, global experience and of course great capabilities that helps them build their careers and that will always attract talent and, of course, we give them specialisms.

We have four different lines of service, The first is assurance. And we have a leading role in the audit market. As I've talked about, taking clients through the capital markets and supporting them in that way, building trust through financial reporting. We have the leading tax practice in China, with more than 2,500 tax professionals. Our deals practice is known, has the reputation for being involved in the big M&A deals. And over the last three years, we have supported more than 2,000 deals and been involved in 40% of the cross-border transactions. And our consulting business helps businesses across the whole scope of the value chain, from things like technology transformation to supply chain transformation, and of course, supporting them in facing risks of regulation and those sorts of areas like cybersecurity. So we can allow our people a huge variety of skills and that's what sets us apart.

Yicai：You mentioned people, talent is the most important, most valuable asset of a professional service firm. And the question is, how is PwC China building attractive talent strategy and ecosystem?

Hemione：That's about allowing people to have great careers and making sure that they do have great careers and continue to invest in future talent, we recruited a thousand graduates in the Chinese mainland and over 500 in the Hong Kong SAR, that allows us to keep building talent through everything that we do, investing in training, investing in technology so that our people are at the forefront so they have the right skills for the modern world and giving them great opportunities perhaps to go overseas and get different global experiences. I've been with the network for over 30 years now and I've had a fabulous career and now here I am in China. I started in the UK, I'm now in China, this is the option that we give our people and that attracts them to us. But as well as that, the other big thing for professional services organisations these days is technology as well as talent. And we have to keep investing in technology to allow our talent to be at the forefront. So, they have the skills and expertise they need for the market.

Yicai：So, the next thing is about CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility. How does PwC China interpret corporate social responsibility in a new era? 

Hemione：Three ways. Firstly, we have embedded ESG corporate responsibility into our own mission. We had an industry-first announcement with PwC globally committing to net zero. And we also help clients with their sustainability agendas and making sure that they have good, deliverable corporate sustainability agendas. The second way is in supporting the communities and giving back to the community. And we are part of a number of programs. One we set up is the Beijing PwC Zhong Tian Foundation in 2023. And through that, we give back to the community, particularly focused on rural revitalisation and skills for young people. And then the third way is our people volunteers. And over 11,000 of our people volunteers their time for various projects and give over 100,000 hours. 

Yicai：So final thing, let's talk something about AI, the hot topic. How is PwC China leveraging AI meaningfully? 

Hemione：Well, AI will change our business quite fundamentally. So we are investing heavily in AI. But we have to do that in a responsible way, because one of the things that we stand for at PwC definitely is promoting trust in society. So we're helping clients also think about how they implement AI responsibly. We have had to do that. We have something called ChatPwC. And this is our own AI environment. It is a framework environment that allows our people to access LLM models across China, DeepSeek and various others, but they do it under a safe and secure environment, that means that the data stays in our environment and is not shared with others. And that helps us to upskill ourselves.