Accountants E&Y to hire 1,200

Accountants Ernst & Young, which recently opened an office in Wuhan, said it will hire 1,200 more accountants in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland to handle growing business and the expected boom in initial public offerings. The firm employs 3,200 accounts worldwide now. E&Y Far East Chairman Anthony Wu Ting-yuk said much of the expansion would take accounting services into China's interior and western regions, with new China offices opening at a rate of up to four a year.