China dials up scrutiny of Big Four audit firms after Evergrande probe

The tighter scrutiny, which has not been previously reported, is mainly focused on Deloitte, EY, PwC, KPMG and their audits of some financial firms as well as highly leveraged companies, said the people.

It began a couple of months ago and comes in the wake of a regulatory probe into "intermediaries" for property giant China Evergrande Group, which refers to auditors, rating agencies and other providers of financial services.