"There are two main reasons for the appointments. First of all, we have seen continued growth of our core business in China which has really exploded in the past six months,
"Secondly, as everyone knows, the Hong Kong market is flat, and we have seen a shift from a multinational agency structure to a fully-fledged local one. We are now doing more work for Hong Kong companies."
Along with clients such as Mandarin Oriental, the agency is also servicing local accounts such as Kowloon Dairy.
Thubron said while most agencies continued to think about television commercials, M&C had expanded to become a multi-discipline operation.
"Maybe just thinking about TV commercials was fine about 10 to 15 years ago, but today, agencies need to look at other disciplines, such as the internet and direct marketing,
he added.
Yu, who started his advertising career in the UK in 1984, will lead M&C's Shanghai creative team. Yu has worked in China for 17 years at J. Walter Thompson, BBDO and McCann-Erickson.
At the agency's Hong Kong office, Hui will be in charge of Chinese copy and will work across most accounts. He previously worked at Bozell, JWT and Leo Burnett.
Kwok, who joined M&C as associate creative director, has worked at Saatchi & Saatchi, Grey Worldwide, Leo Burnett and Bozell.
She is best known for creating the CTI Superman concept and HongKong Broadband, 'Life is too short' campaign.
Meanwhile, Ho, who is best known for her Longxi Best of Show winner 'King of Kowloon' TVC for Swipe, will split her time between the agency and teaching at Hong Kong Polytechnic.
Executive creative director, Tan Khiang, said: "M&C has traditionally been a very gweilo-oriented agency and these appointments have strengthened our local capabilities.
"Everyone is firing, laying off, cutting salaries. We are doing the reverse.
We have achieved critical mass in Hong Kong and are going gangbusters in China. Our reputation has been built around simple and effective solutions."
