The international firm’s new Asian success contrasts with the £1.8 million of projects it won outside the UK, Europe and Middle East for the year ended 31 March 2010, down from £4.2 million the previous year.

David Roberts, Aedas’ chief executive, said: “China (including Hong Kong and Macau) now accounts for around 40% of global headcount and is set to increase in 2012 with new recruits in both the Shanghai and Beijing offices.

“Demand is particularly strong for transportation and mixed-use projects in China’s second, third and fourth tier cities of which there are now around 100 in total.”

The largest commission is the 642,900sq m Min Ying project in Dongguan in the south-east of the country. At its centre are five towers, the tallest of which is 71m, featuring a five-star hotel.

The site area of the scheme is 104,880sq m and it will comprise some 250,000sq m of commercial retail space. The wider masterplan includes a large scale water feature and a sunken plaza, as well as links between the retail offerings.

In Chongqing — which is known for a skyline that includes replicas of the Empire State Building and the Hong Kong IFC Tower — Aedas is planning a 187,000sq m building known as Block E-15 as part of the Yingli Financial Street project.

This will feature a mix of office, residential, hotel, conference, exhibition and theatre spaces, as well as new public realm.

Aedas is also drawing up plans for a 310,000sq m commercial zone on Panda Green Island in Chengdu. One side of the island will have a strip of retail and dining spaces, leading to a six-star hotel. Beyond this the site will be a vehicle-free zone, masterplanned by the practice.

And in the southern Chinese city of Wuxi Aedas has been commissioned for a 300,000sq m shopping mall inspired by the shape of a lotus flower. The development also includes hotel and office facilities.

Earlier this year Aedas said that it was seeking to increase work in emerging economies, and revealed that it would expand its Moscow office, where it currently has 17 staff.