Deloitte announces appointments of new Regional Managing Partners across China

Published: 19 August 2014

Deloitte announced today the appointments of new Regional Managing Partners across China, namely Norman Sze for Northern region, Derek Lai for Southern region and Terence Cheung for Western region, who will work together with Patrick Tsang, the incumbent Regional Managing Partner for Eastern region. This highly experienced team of senior partners will contribute to the operational excellence and enhanced delivery of the firm's strategy for client services and business development in China.

Commenting on their appointments, Lawrence Chia, Deloitte China CEO said “Each of these regions has different growth models in the overall economic development of the country. Northern China driven by Beijing is both a political and economic power base. Eastern China is a key commercial and manufacturing hub in particular for foreign businesses expanding in China. Southern China provides strategic connectivity to global markets. And serving as the new economic locomotive for China is the Western Region. The appointments of these seasoned partners as Regional Managing Partners in their respective geographical marketplaces are a testament to our continued commitment to provide the strongest leadership in serving the needs of domestic and foreign companies operating in these pivotal regions. They are entrusted to provide a combination of deep technical skills, excellent client service and regional market experience across our spectrum of attest and advisory services."

Prior to this new role, Norman Sze was the Managing Partner for Deloitte Consulting, China. Recognised as a leading financial services consultant in China, Sze is a pioneer in the Consulting industry in China, and a banking and financial services expert especially in the areas of credit risk management, performance management, and restructuring.

Sze said "It is an exciting time to lead the Northern region practice with our enhanced multi-disciplinary services to the SOEs in Northern China. As the first consulting partner to take up this role, my fellow partners can count on me to provide new perspectives for the long-term growth and development of our practice and the broader China firm."

Derek Lai, prior to this new role as Managing Partner for Southern Region, was the China Managing Partner for Financial Advisory Services. He is a well-known specialist in restructuring and insolvency services, having participated in many high profile cases both in the Mainland and Hong Kong. His extensive experience will support clients' needs in the evolving transformation of Southern China's financial markets and its economy. It is important to leverage Hong Kong's strategic role as an international financial centre to continue to assist our clients in both the Mainland and Hong Kong to access the capital markets.

Lai said, "My top priority is to continue leading our Southern China practice from strength to strength, notably in the area of transformation and being the number one professional firm in serving listed companies. My background in restructuring services enables me to understand businesses, and helping companies unlock their hidden values."

The appointment of Terence Cheung as the new Managing Partner for Western Region is aligned with the growth needs of our clients in this dynamic region of China. Cheung was the Managing Partner for the firm's capital market business in Hong Kong. He has over 24 years of audit experience specializing in IPOs. His expertise includes advising manufacturers in the medical and high technology sectors.

"I feel honoured to be the inaugural Managing Partner for the Western Region at this important time of the region's growth and development. We anticipate an increasing trend of investments, fuelling the needs of growth companies with viable business models. Over the past decade, Deloitte has served the largest number of companies going public by listing in Hong Kong and the US, and has helped clients raised over HK$1 trillion in IPO proceeds. We are committed to bringing this experience to companies in Western region for obtaining investment capital and to supporting the long term growth of the capital market in China," said Terence Cheung.

Appointed Managing Partner for the Eastern Region in October 2013, Patrick Tsang said "I have worked closely with these three highly skilled colleagues for many years and I look forward to continuing to do so in our mutual role as regional leaders. Based in Shanghai for over twenty years now, I have witnessed and played a part in the growth and development of Deloitte China's services to clients in the region. I am honoured to take up this leadership role to grow and develop our regional network, capabilities and capacity in alignment with the future business opportunities and needs of companies in Eastern China, culminating in China's plans for Shanghai to become one of the world's leading financial centers by 2020."