The First Chinese Accounting Firm Enters Japan

Osaka - Sunday, February 13, 2011




Nikkei, Japan’s leading newspaper specialized in business and economy reported in its evening newspaper on February 12 that a leading Chinese Accounting Firm is to establish its first office in Japan. This is the first Chinese Accounting Firm to start business in Japan.



The firm is to support from accounting perspective Chinese companies starting business in Japan such as establishing affiliates or joint ventures in Japan. It is quite possible that the entry triggers global accounting network originating in China to expand worldwide.



1. What is the background of the first Chinese accounting firm entering Japan?



It is the fact that Chinese companies are extremely proactive in investing in Japan, especially M&A, as mentioned in the previous article Japanese Companies Leverage China / Asia Capital for Survival.



In fact, the number of M&A in Japan (acquisition of Japanese companies) by Chinese and Hong Kong companies has been increasing since 2000 and the pace has speeded up in the last year.



The number of M&A was around 10 in 2000 and has remained below 15 until 2005 but increased to above 20 in 2007. And, in 2010 the number jumped from around 25 in 2009 to over 35 in 2010.



2. Which Chinese accounting firm enters Japan?



It is Shinewing Certified Public Accountants, based in Beijing, China, that enters Japan. They have already completed registration. Japanese accounting professionals operating in China are the certified accountants.



3. What is the plan?



The company plans to officially start their business in Japan this spring, and increase the staff to approximately 10 by the end of this year.



Their core business is to support accounting and audit of affiliates and joint ventures of Chinese companies and to support M&A in Japan of Chinese companies. The company also would like to support Japanese companies investing in China.



The country manager of the Japan office commented that Japanese products are of high quality and globally competitive even though the price might be high. He also commented that Chinese companies are extremely interested in market, technology and know-how of business administration of Japan.



4. Positioning of Shinewing Certified Public Accountants



Revenue of Shinewing Certified Public Accountants is third in China, excluding western accounting firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers. It has been supporting approximately 300 Japanese companies operating in China. It already has offices in other countries such as Australia and Singapore.



Chinese government is currently strengthening education of accountants. For this reason, they would like to expand accounting network of Chinese accounting firms by initiatives such as encouraging M&A of accounting firms/offices. The first office of in Japan is part of their initiative.