TOP CHINESE REGULATOR TO JOIN ACCOUNTING BODY
A senior Chinese regulator is to join the powerful 14-member group that sets global accounting rules, a clear sign of the country's determination to influence the development of international norms it has agreed to adopt.
Zhang Weiguo, chief accountant of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, is to leave his post at the stock market regulator and join the International Accounting Standards Board as its first Chinese member in July 2007.
His appointment, announced yesterday, comes as about 1,200 companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen prepare to switch on January 1 next year to unfamiliar accounting rules based on international standards.
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The country's ministry of finance has made the upgrade of accounting standards a central part of its broader effort to boost the reliability and credibility of Chinese accounts.
China is besieged by investors eager to plough money into the country but some outsiders remain troubled by a perception that false accounting is widespread, if not endemic.
Mr Zhang's appointment, made by IASB trustees, underlines the organisation's intent to listen more closely to the needs of companies, accountants and investors in emerging economies.
Since scoring a victory when the European Union agreed to adopt its standards last year, the IASB's attention has turned increasingly to Asia.
The board nonetheless continues to come under fire in Europe for propagating rules regarded as overly prescriptive and theoretical.
Beijing has already been able to hail its growing influence over the IASB following an announcement in July that the board would reconsider three rules said to be either unclear or unworkable in China.
In his role at the CSRC, Mr Zhang has probably been closely involved in investigating many of the accounting scandals that periodically rock China's stock markets.
He has previously spoken bluntly about the risks of moving to a new set of accounting standards in a country that does not necessarily have the infrastructure to ensure it is correctly applied.
中国代表将进入国际会计准则理事会
中国证监会(CSRC)一位高级官员即将加入权力很大、负责制订全球会计准则的14人小组。这一迹象清楚表明，在同意采用国际会计准则之后，中国决心对准则的制定与发展施加影响。
中国证监会首席会计师张为国将于2007年7月卸任当前职务，加入国际会计准则理事会(IASB)，成为该理事会的首位中国代表。
相关任命已于昨日公布。此时，大约1200家在上海和深圳上市的中国公司，正准备在明年1月1日改用基于国际标准的新会计准则。
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中国财政部已经将会计标准的升级，作为提高中国会计账户可靠性和可信性工作的中心任务之一。
目前，很多热切的投资者都希望在中国投资，但有些投资者仍然抱有这样一种认识，即：中国的虚假账目问题即使不算“成灾”，也是一个普遍存在的现象。
国际会计准则理事会受托人对张为国的任命，表明这个组织希望更贴近地听取新兴经济体企业、会计师和投资者的需求。
自从去年成功推动欧盟(EU)同意采用国际会计标准之后，国际会计准则理事会的注意力便日益转向了亚洲。
但是，这个理事会在欧洲仍然受到抨击，因为人们认为它制定的规则过于死板和教条。
中国对国际会计准则理事会的影响力已经日益提高。今年7月，这个理事会表示将重新考虑3项规则，因为中国方面认为这些规则或者含糊不清，或者在中国不可行。
从张为国在中国证监会担任的职务来看，他可能密切参与过对许多会计丑闻的调查。中国股市经常受到这些会计丑闻的打击。
他曾经直言不讳地谈到，在确保新会计准则得到正确实施的基础尚不健全的情况下，引入一套新准则存在诸多风险。
