The launch ceremony of an office for global financial services giant KPMG was held in the Chongchuan district of Nantong city in East China's Jiangsu province on March 12, with district Party secretary Liu Hao attending and delivering a keynote speech.

Liu said that Nantong – one of the first 14 coastal cities to open up to the world in China – entered the "1-trillion-yuan ($153.8 billion) GDP club" last year. Chongchuan, as Nantong's central urban area, has the most concentrated factors of production and the highest urbanization level in the city.

With a global influence in the accounting field, KPMG is expected to play an important role in boosting Chongchuan's development. The district reportedly plans to deepen its links with the international accounting behemoth, to attract more multinationals and leading companies and institutions to settle there by virtue of the KPMG presence and upgrade itself into an innovation demonstration area of the Yangtze River Delta or YRD, Liu added.

Gong Weili, vice chairman of KPMG China, told the ceremony that as a growing force in Jiangsu, Nantong has vast development potential due to national strategies including the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the Yangtze River Economic Belt and YRD integration.

KPMG Nantong will give full play to its advantages in terms of global resources, its focus on auditing, taxation and consulting and will make big contributions to Nantong's development, according to Gong.

KPMG is one of the four major international accounting firms, with member firms in 147 countries and regions and more than 219,000 professionals around the world, providing financial services such as auditing, taxation and consulting.

Currently, KPMG China has 26 offices in 24 cities in China, with approximately 12,000 partners and employees. With the close cooperation of its many offices, KPMG China is able to efficiently and quickly mobilize various resources to provide customers with high-quality services.