The ACCA celebrates 20 years of imparting knowledge and international standards in China This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in China, and a celebration was held in Beijing recently to mark the occasion. 'Twenty years ago the accountancy profession in the mainland was still focused on local standards,' said May Law, the ACCA Hong Kong's China director. 'The ACCA was the first professional accounting body to make international accounting standards the core of its professional qualification. We have been able to impart some of that knowledge and practices to our students and members in the mainland in helping them to converge into international accounting standards,' she said. The ACCA's first senior delegation headed off on a fact-finding mission to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in 1988 and in 1990, the first ACCA class was organised in Beijing with 30 students selected from government departments. After 20 years of development in the mainland, it now has 3,000 members and 18,000 students (excluding Hong Kong) with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It has established partnerships with more than 400 employers, including multinational corporations and accounting firms, and 39 universities and institutions teaching the ACCA syllabus and preparing students for the ACCA exams now held in 27 exam centres nationwide. 'Since its entry into China, the ACCA has made a positive and important contribution to accounting education and professional development in China, especially in areas such as curriculum development in our colleges and universities,' said Lu Zhengfei, associate dean of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University in Beijing. In its earlier years in China, Professor Lu said the ACCA had spurred accounting education reform in major subjects such as financial accounting and auditing, when those courses lagged international practices. The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) also celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. The ACCA has developed a long-term relationship with the Chinese central government and with the CICPA since the two bodies first met in 1988 and signed a memorandum of understanding in 1994. 'In the past 20 years we have seen our partnership with the CICPA grow and we have worked on many initiatives with it. Currently, the biggest programme we have with the CICPA is a train-the-trainer programme, which has just completed its third year. To help the CICPA develop the teaching standards of those who teach accountancy in mainland universities we are together raising the standards in universities. If the teachers get it right then the students will also get it right,' Ms Law said. Apart from the fact that the ACCA was an early mover into the mainland, its investment in and commitment to the Chinese accounting profession came at a time when little was known about mainland accounting practices. Ms Law said the association had been able to lay a foundation and build strong relationships. 'As a result of our long-term vision we have many local partners who fully recognise our qualification and work with us in training students and developing the profession in the mainland,' she said.