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Established in 1988, the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants is set to play a pivotal role in the country's market economy. Jia Zhong Zheng, deputy director of the international department at the institute, tells David Hayes how the best accountants are going to be identified and nurtured
China has emerged as a major economic market and for the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA), there is an urgent need to attract more students and to ensure its existing certified public accountants (CPAs) are cognisant of the latest changes and requirements in the profession.
Jia Zhong Zheng, deputy director of the international department at the CICPA, says: "The CPA profession has developed rapidly in the last 20 years. In 1993 we introduced the Chartered Public Accountants Law which established the legal position of CPAs and the accounting profession in China.
"In 1995 the original Institute of Chartered Public Accountants and the Chinese Association of Auditors merged to become the new Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants. We have 5,400 group member accounting firms and 140,000 individual members. Currently the whole income of the CPA profession is RMB15 billion [$1.8 million] annually."
Two career paths
The membership of the CICPA appears to be split between those who are in practice at firms and the remainder who work in government departments. The CICPA states that the split between these two career paths among members is even.
Jia says: "In the 17 years since the CICPA was founded we have set up a strict examination system. Around 60,000 students apply for the CPA examination each year. Candidates for exams are students with three years of college education. We have five subjects in the exams: accounting, audit, finance and cost management, economic law and taxation law."
The curriculum is exacting. Jia says: "According to the regulations, candidates should pass all five subjects in five years. Candidates passing five subjects can apply for individual CICPA membership. Candidates who pass all five subjects and who have two years' practice experience in China can apply to become a CPA. After a candidate becomes a CPA we have a continuing professional development system."
The CICPA offers accountancy training in three forms: firstly, at one of the three national training institutes, located in...