The founder of PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC's) sustainability and climate change team in China has relocated to London, in a move designed to boost trade links with the UK and help Chinese companies bolster their green management strategies.

PwC's UK Sustainability and Climate Change team this week confirmed it has been joined for a two-year secondment by Allan Zhang, who established the sustainability practice six years ago in its Beijing office.

Speaking to BusinessGreen, Zhang said the secondment would help him to learn about new services that could be adapted for the Chinese arm of the business, specifically around the development of green strategies, supply chain management plans, and improved carbon disclosure.

'In China we're strong on environmental due diligence, we do a lot of Clean Development Mechanism [UN-approved carbon offset] projects and measuring of carbon footprints, but now we want to expand the business to include more areas like green strategy,' he said.

He added that the number of Chinese firms taking steps to curb their environmental impact is limited because of the lack of mandatory green regulations.

'The main barrier is from China itself,' he said. 'Nearly everything is voluntary so there's no legal obligation for a company to do something. You need to talk to people and try to convince them this is something worth investing in.'

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