Accounting and consulting giant Ernst & Young plans to more than double its China staff to over 8,000 within five years to meet the growing demand for professional services, company executives said.

Ernst & Young and its global rivals - Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers - profit from advising and auditing Chinese firms and banks as they seek restructurings and initial public offerings.

"Looking into the future, we'd like to expand our investment into China," David Sun, Ernst & Young's newly appointed chairman for China, said. "We plan to more than double our work force in five years."

Ernst & Young, with nine offices in China, employing about 4,000 people, had recently opened new outlets in the northeastern city of Dalian and central city of Wuhan, its executives said.

Apart from setting up new offices in the country, the company was also looking for opportunities to acquire or merge with local accounting firms, Sun said without elaborating.

The firm merged with China's largest accounting firm, Da Hua, in 2002, the first pairing of foreign and Chinese accounting firms.

James Turley, Ernst & Young chairman and CEO, said the company would invest no less than its rivals in China to meet demand from Chinese firms including big State-owned firms as many of them restructure or privatize and seek listings.

.Source: Shenzhen Daily