Asia Business Consulting – Supporting International Business: Meet Christine Chou

With an academic background in International Business, and fluency in English, Mandarin, French and Cantonese, Christine brings a strong international perspective to her role. Before joining Ecovis, she spent nearly a decade in trade and investment development roles, working with companies across diverse industries and honing her ability to analyse complex requirements and deliver practical solutions.

When supporting clients entering new markets or operating across multiple jurisdictions, Christine first develops a clear understanding of their objectives. She then coordinates the required services across accounting, tax, legal, payroll and compliance, acting as a single point of contact to ensure a streamlined client experience.

“I also make sure that no client needs are untapped. When we support a client, we continuously assess whether they may need assistance in other areas of their business, particularly those that are often overlooked, such as audit, transfer pricing, compliance, or matters in other jurisdictions.”

Christine works with clients across a broad range of industries, with significant experience in IT-related sectors including fintech, IT services and AI-enabled business service providers. She also supports established APAC multinationals in industries such as food production, equipment manufacturing and automotive sectors as they expand into Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Within a network of several hundred Partners, Christine focuses on identifying relevant expertise across markets so that clients are connected with the right specialists in each country. Once partners are identified, she works to establish an effective process for each project.

“Listening and a proactive approach are essential to ensure proposed solutions match client requirements and leverage local strengths,” says Christine. “I first gain a thorough understanding of a client, their needs and expectations. Then, in collaboration with the relevant Ecovis member firms, we work internally to develop a proposal that best meets the client requirements.” Christine’s end goal is to create seamless, coordinated delivery that differentiates Ecovis in the global advisory landscape.

Christine notes that clients today are seeking advisors who can anticipate their needs and take a proactive approach, particularly in an uncertain global environment. This has led to a preference for a global partner capable of delivering consistent services across countries, spanning accounting, tax, payroll, legal and audit functions, and strengthening oversight and control.

In the APAC region, Christine observes strong outbound expansion from markets such as Mainland China, Malaysia and Taiwan, alongside continued foreign direct investment into jurisdictions including the Vietnam and Thailand. “We also see APAC-based multinationals building strong international expansion strategies, with subsidiaries already present, or otherwise planned in three or four different continents,” explains Christine.

For Christine, successful advisor-client relationships are built on proactivity and effective cross-cultural communication. And, as much of the work occurs remotely, establishing strong trust and rapport is key.