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China Accounting Services Sector

Product Type: Market Research Report
Published by: China Knowledge Press
Published: October 2004
Product Code: R638-7616
Description
The accounting services sector has grown by leaps and bounds in the period since economic liberalization began in earnest. As China moved toward a market economy, it had to reinvent this key sector after long neglect. In fact, under the command economy, accounting and auditing was mainly limited to working on SOEs or public sector budgeting. There is a need now to change the mentality to fit the rapidly-growing new economy, and to train new staff to fill the gaps as privatization takes place and private sector companies move to the forefront as employers and centers of growth and change.

Accounting was one of the first service sectors to open up. Even in the 1980s, foreign accounting firms were permitted to set up representative offices and to provide audit, tax and consulting services to both local and foreign clients. Compared to highly monopolized and closed industries like telecommunications, the accounting sector is in a better position to adapt and develop in the WTO period.

With investors’ rising expectations for publicly-listed companies, demand for high-quality auditing is increasing.

The CPA industry has undergone rapid development since 1980. It established a regulations system, implemented an examination system, developed training and follow-up education, opened up the accounting market, and increased international cooperation. Overall, the new development of CPA firms has played an active and important role in economic reforms, the development of security markets, reforms of state-owned enterprises, and national development.

As well-known foreign CPA firms enter the country, the standards of local firms are expected to rise to approach international standards. Rules and regulations concerning foreign-invested CPA firms are expected to be improved and perfected.

The development trend is encouraging. With the increase of accounting service enterprises and people in practice, the sector has already achieved a much larger scale. To increase professionalization and standardization, industry groups in major cities founded the Institute of Certified Public Accountants. By end-2001, China had a total of 4287 CPA firms, of which 72 had a license to audit securities firms. There were 55,897 practicing CPAs and 75,000 non-practicing CPAs. Among 347 non-practicing foreign members, 217 were from Taiwan, 109 from Hong Kong, and 21 from other countries. The total revenue in 2001 was about RMB 8.1 billion.

This report concentrates on the recent development of this very large market, and contains chapters on the institutional and legal framework, new rules and regulations, and the changes and outlook following China’s accession to WTO. The report concludes by discussing reforms and considerations on the future of the accounting services market. Appendices contain copious supplementary material including definitions, updated laws and rules, a business directory, and lists of CPA firms.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Part One Market Overview

Chapter 1 History and Development

Chapter 2 Development and Current Situation

Chapter 3 Recent Structural Reforms

Chapter 4 Sector Characteristics

Part Two A Closer Look

Chapter 5 Auditing Subsector

Chapter 6 Asset Valuation

Chapter 7 Investment Climate

Part Three Changing Legal and Regulatory Environment

Chapter 8 Background

Chapter 9 New Standards

Chapter 10 Legal Highlights

Chapter 11 Organizations and Authorities

Chapter 12 Reforming the Legal Environment

Part Four Entry to the WTO

Chapter 13 WTO Regulations on Accounting Services

Chapter 14 Commitments on Market Liberalization

Chapter 15 Impact of WTO Entry

Chapter 16 Coping with WTO Changes

Part Five Market Prospects

Chapter 17 Market Expansion

Chapter 18 United Standards for Service Charges

Chapter 19 Training the Industry

Chapter 20 Impact of SARS in 2003

Chapter 21 Future Development

References

Appendix

Appendix 1 Accounting Concepts, Definitions and Terms

Accounting Underlying Concepts

Accounting Services

Business Categories

Appendix 2 Laws and Regulations on Accounting Services Sector

Major Notices and Related Rules from Administrative Departments

Major Laws and Regulations

Major Rules on Foreign Investment

Appendix 3 Business Directory

Accounting Firms in China Top Players

CPA Firms Certi.ed to Audit Medium- to Large-Sized SOEs

Firms Having Practice License For Listed Companies

China Member Firms of International CPA Firms

Appendix 4 Distribution of CPA Firms by Province

Appendix 5 Merged CPA Firms

Appendix 6 CPA Firms that Failed CICPA Inspection in 2002

Appendix 7 CPA Firms Ranked by Revenue per Person, 1999

Appendix 8 APEC Directory on Professional Services

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