At last week’s ASA Advanced BV conference in Boca Raton, Fla., I had the great pleasure of meeting Han Liyang, deputy secretary general of the China Appraisal Society. She tells me there are 40,000 valuation professionals in China, and very large firms do most valuations. The profession is regulated by the government, which issues different licenses for valuing state-owned assets and public companies. She noted that there is great interest in advancing the valuation profession there in terms of education and the development of specialties.

The Chinese economy has moved from heavy investments in fixed assets to a focus on intangible assets, innovation, and internet-related technology. In terms of intangibles, Liyang tells me there is great interest in developing a “brand ranking” system for China similar to several we see here in the U.S. In fact, China has a ministry for quality working on this to help consumers identify the quality between one particular brand versus another.

Ray Moran (MG Valuations), who has worked with Chinese firms for 15 years, says outbound Chinese M&A will hit record levels this year. China will be directing large investments to agribusiness, dining/lodging, and technology. He also noted that China is very different culturally than anywhere else in the world, so forging a proper business relationship with Chinese clients is very important.