Deloitte announces new China CEO

Published: 8 October 2013

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) announced today that Lawrence Chia has been elected to the position of Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte China. On 1 October 2013, he assumed his new role and responsibilities from Chris Lu who had completed his term.

Commenting on Lawrence Chia's appointment, Barry Salzberg, DTTL CEO said “China has long been referred to as an “emerging market” because of the vast potential of its people and economy. Today, China is one of the most powerful countries in the world, attracting a great deal of international interest and investment. China is an extremely important market for Deloitte, which is why we’ve significantly expanded the services and expertise on offer in the region. I’m very pleased that Lawrence Chia was elected as CEO of Deloitte China, and look forward to working alongside him.”

Prior to this, Chia was the China and Asia Pacific Financial Advisory Head and his appointment as CEO significantly reflects Deloitte China's transformation into a full professional services firm.

A chartered accountant, Chia started his career as an auditor and was admitted to the partnership in 1990. He had been the firm's Financial Advisory Head since 1997 when he launched its Corporate Finance and M&A services. His other national, regional and global roles included Head of Financial Advisory Services for Asia Pacific since 2003, Head of China M&A Practice since 2008 and, since 2010, Co-Chairman of the Global Chinese Services Group which, with a network of 120 locations around the world, is the biggest global network of its kind among professional services firms. Under Chia's FAS leadership, Deloitte China has advised on a number of the landmark international M&A transactions by Chinese enterprises in recent years. He has worked in Deloitte offices in the U.K. and Hong Kong, and since 2007 has made Beijing his base.

Chia said, "The firm will grow together with our clients. Anticipating the increasingly complex needs of globalising Chinese enterprises, as well as overseas companies operating in China, the firm has established a substantial base of consulting and advisory services to strategically complement its attest services. We are well positioned for continuous growth in our audit market share, and anticipate higher growth in our consulting and advisory businesses."

Chia added, "Our overarching vision for the next few years is to provide integrated services that help Chinese enterprises achieve quality growth and enhance their global eminence."