The merger will run under the name of PricewaterhouseCoopers and will have a combined staff of 6,000, including 230 partners, in Hong Kong and mainland China.

The enlarged firm's offices in China will include Beijing, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Xi'an, the statement said.

Andersen Hong Kong and China announced their decisions to join PricewaterhouseCoopers last month after their U.S. affiliate was slapped with criminal charges in the United States and the loss of several key clients for its role in the collapse of energy giant Enron Corp.

Other affiliates worldwide have also broken ranks and decided to merge with different accounting companies.