Interview on new IFRS-based Chinese standards

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10 Aug 2006

We have posted an interview with Stephen Taylor, head of the Deloitte Asia-Pacific IFRS Centre of Excellence, about China's new Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises that are based on IFRSs.

The interview, titled (PDF 563k) was included in Issue 3/2006 of Australian CPA Network magazine, published by the Hong Kong branch of CPA Australia. Stephen highlights some of the differences between the new Chinese standards and IFRSs and comments on their efficacy and wider implications. Several of the interview questions relate to convergence. Here's one:

Question: Why can't you have one set of IFRS standards with exceptions for specific circumstances in each country? Stephen's response: Ideally, that's where we should be but it's mainly the lack of sovereignty that is the issue. In China the standards are laws. So you would be allowing a body of people sitting in London to dictate their laws. Hong Kong won't do it, neither will the European Union. Even in the European Union if an IFRS standard is issued by the IASB it has to be endorsed by the European Union for use in Europe because it's a legal issue. What we will probably see more of in China's case is a reconciliation requirement. In other words, it will be alright to use this Chinese standard but please reconcile and show us the potential impact of these minor differences.

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