China to toughen accounting firm regulations

China will strengthen regulations on the certified public accountant sector, Deputy Finance Minister Zhu Zhongming told visiting Deloitte Global Chair Sharon Thorne after the company was hit by a record fine. 

The ministry announced on March 17 that it suspended the operations of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.'s Beijing office for three months and imposed a 212 million yuan ($30.9 million) fine over lapses in its auditing work of bad-debt manager China Huarong Asset Management Co.

Zhu urged Deloitte to learn a lesson from the punishment, correct mistakes and improve audit quality, according to a statement from the ministry on Sunday. It added China supports Deloitte and other global accounting firms in operating legally in the nation, and that they will be treated equally with domestic accountants.

VCG/Getty Images

Thorne told Zhu that Deloitte will draft a plan to correct mistakes and improve audit quality. Deloitte is willing to keep contributing to China's "high-quality" economic development, according to the statement.