Sino-US accountancy is at crucial level with SEC probe

Analysts have urged China and the US to set up a framework to address cross-border accounting issues.

It is a subject that has become increasingly significant on the bilateral diplomatic agenda after US regulators said they were set to punish the Chinese affiliates of the four largest accounting firms for blocking investigations of possible fraudulent accounting.

James Lee, regional director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for China, wrote in an article on Tuesday that it is in the long-term interests of both the US and China to do so, "especially as China is expected to provide increasing capital funding for companies from the US and elsewhere once it develops its international financial center in Shanghai".