(Yicai) July 3 -- PricewaterhouseCoopers has replaced the former China and Asia Pacific chairman with Daniel Li after the auditing scandal of property developer China Evergrande Group.

Li has assumed the positions previously held by Raymund Chao, the Chinese arm of the London-headquartered provider of professional services announced on its website today.

Before this, Li was the audit leader for PwC Asia Pacific and a member of PwC's global audit leadership since June 2022, according to the website of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants. That added to his other roles as the chief partner at PwC Zhong Tian, a member of the British firm's global network, and the audit leader for China since July 2015. He joined PwC Zhong Tian in 1993.

Chao had a long reign as he became the chairman of PwC Asia Pacific in 2017, enriching his earlier title as the chairman of PwC China, gained in 2015. Chao is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, according to PwC's website.

Following years of deficient accounting of builder China Evergrande, the auditor's business is contracting as over 30 mainland-listed companies have recently announced they will terminate their contracts with PwC, involving fees totaling hundreds of millions of Chinese yuan.

On May 10, in response to market rumors that PwC's China operations might be suspended, PwC Zhong Tian said that all the related content is false information.

Editor: Emmi Laine