The Chinese Ministry of Finance has suspended PwC China from undertaking any audit work in the country for six months and the firm has been given a ¥297m (£32m) penalty.

At the same time, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has fined PwC China a further ¥325m (£35m) for failing to perform due diligence in the audit of Evergrande, the collapsed real estate developer.

While the fines have been issued to the firm as an entity they include penalties for individual partners and audit staff.