The impact of non-audit services on auditor independence-evidence from Chinese listed companies

This study's goal is to determine how non-audit services affect auditor independence in the Chinese market. The sample selected for this study was listed companies in the real estate industry in China from 2017 to 2020, and secondary data were acquired from the chosen firms' annual reports. This study uses descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, including Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis to examine the impact of non-audit services (measured by non-audit service fees and their share of total fees) on auditor independence (assessed by the nature of the auditor's audit opinion). To mitigate the effect of other factors, control variables were included in this study, including the asset size and operating conditions of listed companies, as well as the size and audit tenure of the audit firm. According to the study's findings, auditor independence is negatively impacted by non-audit services, and it is also impacted by the audit firm's tenure. The scope of this study is limited to the real estate industry and the time span is from 2017 to 2020, which has some limitations. This study provides evidence on the impact of auditor independence in the Chinese market due to non-audit services and provides a relevant reference for researchers in the field, as well as aiding the decision-making of market participants such as listed companies, audit firms and regulators.