Executive: BRI driving accounting boom in China

China may become the biggest market for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in terms of membership, thanks to the country's vast talent pool and the China-proposed decade-old Belt and Road Initiative.

Joseph Owolabi, president of ACCA (2022-23 session), said the London-based global professional accounting body is excited about the prospect of the Chinese market growing and potentially representing the largest proportion in its global membership.

ACCA now has over 29,000 members in China amid the 247,000 members worldwide.

While it will still take time for the Chinese market to catch up with ACCA's largest markets, Owolabi told China Daily he sees the potential for members in the Chinese mainland to top 200,000, driven by the abundant demand for skilled accountants out of the country's vast 1.4 billion population.

When it comes to the future members, he said China is already the top market for ACCA as it is home to 148,000 future members. All over the world, ACCA has 526,000 future members in 181 countries.

ACCA future members are accounting students who have not passed all ACCA exams, and affiliates who have passed all exams but do not yet have three years of practical experience or have not completed the ACCA ethics module.

As China pushes ahead with the BRI, the country will also need a growing number of professional accountants — as leaders, managers and sustainability experts — to help facilitate international projects, Owolabi said.

He said that ACCA has been supporting the BRI not only by nurturing professional accountants, but also by facilitating trade via its extensive global relationships.

Since it was launched 10 years ago, the BRI has been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform. The Central Economic Work Conference in December called for efforts to ensure that both major signature projects and "small yet smart" livelihood programs are promoted under the initiative.

Owolabi said he thinks good work has been done to ensure that BRI projects are commercially viable and profitable, with some leveraging collateralized assets to ensure debt sustainability.

He said many of the projects have generated a positive social impact and enhanced bilateral relations. For instance, some BRI projects have helped develop ports and increase trade in Nigeria, his native country.

"Nothing helps tell the Chinese story better than the BRI. It allows people, without necessarily coming to China, to see how great a country it is."

Seeing immense opportunities in China, Owolabi said there is "no better time" than now to do business in or with China, and ACCA is particularly active in assisting China's net-zero transition, equipping accountants with the necessary skill sets, including sustainability and ESG auditing-related abilities.

Sustainability auditing is a process that evaluates the performance of an organization in relation to its sustainable development goals, while ESG auditing is an assessment of the risks related to environmental, social and governance issues and can verify the accuracy of ESG-related data disclosed by companies.

The accounting body also looks to help China's accounting community build insights into artificial intelligence as well as data security and governance, which will bring new career opportunities for accounting professionals, Owolabi said.

In 2024 and beyond, he said ACCA will work to enhance membership value in China by developing closer collaboration with universities to help deliver jobs and career opportunities to ACCA's future members, who are mainly college students.

zhoulanxv@chinadaily.com.cn