PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Four auditors, had been Evergrande’s auditor since 2009, when the developer listed in Hong Kong

If approved, the new measures will apply specifically to auditors that have been hired by domestic firms or are conducting cross-border work

About a dozen Chinese firms, including Tencent Music Entertainment Group, Didi Global and NetEase, are likely to be inspected in a fresh round of routine checks

Beijing will also tighten scrutiny of domestic and foreign auditors — “including the Big Four” accounting firms — vice-minister of finance, Zhu Zhongming warned

The inspections by US audit watchdog PCAOB are part of a deal with Beijing to prevent delistings of Chinese firms from the New York Stock Exchange

The statement follows the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) identification of five Chinese stocks that will be delisted if they do not provide access to audit documents

CSRC said it welcomes the attitude of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board