Deloitte establishes FTZ Branch

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a multinational provider of audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services, recently became the first professional service provider to get a license to operate in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

The FTZ branch was expected to cash in on the opportunities presented by financial reforms and less control on capital accounts in the test area that were promised by authorities.

Jiang Ying, a partner with Deloitte, said the FTZ needed to enhance its capital management ability to attract more regional headquarters of multinational companies.

She said a recent poll of multinational companies showed that the establishment of a capital pool for their regional headquarters in the FTZ was the most anticipated element of the test.

Authorities said offshore accounts could be opened in the FTZ to allow freer flow of foreign exchange, but the policy was not yet in effect.

Overseas mergers and acquisitions by Chinese enterprises have expanded five times over the past five years to $65.2 billion. But such investments continued to be restrained by limited financing resources arising from domestic restrictions on foreign exchange.