Daniel Li - Asia Pacific and China Chairman

I was born and raised in a small town near Suzhou, from a hard-working but simple family. When studying in Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, I dreamed of working in an international accounting firm. By the time I graduated in 1993, I successfully joined PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian LLP as one of the first locally recruited classes of professionals in Shanghai, along with two of my university friends. At that time, we never thought that 20 years later, PwC would develop into such a large scale professional firm in China. We grew together with the firm, and are all still with the firm as partners today.

People often ask me why I have been staying with PwC, I tell them it is because PwC provides me with an extraordinary platform for professional growth. PwC is a place where elites gather, cultivating the passion for working and the heart for growing. I am also able to interact with top-tier companies around the world, being able to enjoy conversations and information exchanges with them. Also, I make use of my professional knowledge to contribute to the society through solving important problems and building trust in it.

In 1997, I was offered a two-year secondment opportunity to work at the St. Louis office in PwC US. The differences in economic environment, working style and cultural atmosphere not only broadened my horizons and enabled me to take on challenges positively, but also cultivated my ability to quickly fit in with different positions and environments.

My most exciting moment at PwC was taking up the role of engagement lead partner for a yearly audit project on a leading oil and gas company in Beijing in 2010. I was still a very young partner back then and leading such a significant project was both an honour and a challenge. This also shows that PwC deploys talent in a bold yet dynamic way. I had to relocate to Beijing to fully commit and lead this significant engagement. Needless to say, I was constantly challenged to step out of my comfort zone, but the hard work paid off as we delivered value to the client and gained their trust.

For more than 20 years, PwC has provided a platform for me to gain exposure to numerous excellent MNCs, POEs and SOEs, helping them in areas of inbound, outbound, mergers and acquisition and IPOs. The opportunities for us to grow are truly endless here. For instance, I was arranged to study in Harvard Business School in America and later in INSEAD to learn about leadership and strategic enterprise management.

As one of the new generation of professionals after China's reform and development, I always take it my personal mission to contribute back. I have been invited to actively participate in the establishment of Chinese CPA Professional Standards System and its international convergence; also, through my current roles with public bodies such as the Ministry of Finance, Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA), China Association for Public Companies, Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and other institutions, I strive to offer advice and suggestions and make contributions to Chinese CPA profession, national economic governance and development with my professional knowledge and experience. At the end of 2015, I was honoured to be named as one of the “National Advanced Accounting Professionals” by the Ministry of Finance, being the only professional from a Big Four firm to receive this honour.

If there’s one career advice I could give to graduates today, I hope that everyone will do what I did - to make good use the PwC platform and to work hard - and the opportunity of a lifetime will be waiting for you.