The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Greater China Director Ms Fion Yip stated in Shanghai recently that China has issued the latest accounting standard in this February, which marks that China's accounting standard system converging with international conventions was formally established. While the new accounting standard is connected to the international conventions, China has large demands for talents that are familiar with international accounting standards. The internationalized high-end accounting professionals will be sought-after for a long time based on the present situation.

According to the report of Xinhuanet.com, the training workload in China's accounting market can not be underestimated since the issuance of the new accounting standard, said Yip. In order to ensure all accountants have mastered the accounting transaction and disclosure method stated in the new standard by 2007, a large number of jobs must be done and talents are still in a serious shortage. A quite long period is necessary as professionals skilled in international accounting standards are only available after the very strict training. For instance, ACCA trained merely 2,000 accountants that are acquainted with international financial report standards in recent years, while there are 135,000 certified public accountants (CPA) in China today.

The latest survey shows that 90% of the foreign-funded enterprises in Shanghai hold the opinion that within three years, corporate financial personnel will encounter a "skill shortage". Most firms are in urgent need of senior financial talents such as chief financial officials, financial managers and senior accountants. However foreigners still hold most of the positions as senior financial executives in foreign-invested companies in today's China. The survey also demonstrates that as China's new accounting standard is joining the global level, enterprises urgently see demands for high-end financial talents that are highly adaptable to the new accounting standard.

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