Marcum, the US accounting and advisory firm, has merged its China-based practice with Chinese tax and transaction advisor Bernstein & Pinchuk to create a new entity that expands both firms' networks in the country.

Marcum Bernstein and Pinchuk opens on 1 January 2011. Beginning on this date, China-based, middle-market and publicly-traded firms and those undergoing transactions to US stock exchanges will be allowed access to a wide resource bank consisting of over 75 US GAAP and SEC trained professionals in China. It will have offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Hong Kong, with coordinated services worldwide. According to a statement, it will be the only PCAOB-reviewed company with significant on-the-ground resources in China outside of the "Big Four" accounting firms.

"We continue to see a increasing trend of Chinese companies that are looking to the US markets to raise capital and are excited to offer our combined solution to the Chinese marketplace," Drew Bernstein, co-managing partner of Bernstein & Pinchuck, said.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.