ABSTRACT

Of all the recent reforms of accounting in China, the ‘Financial Guidelines for Business Enterprises’ and the ‘Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises’, introduced in December 1992 and effective from 1 July 1993, will probably have the most far-reaching influence on Chinese finance and accountancy. These developments have followed more than ten years of economic reform and openness (to the outside world), and have been described as a ‘revolution’ in accounting reform (Yang 1993). Thus, the year 1993 may well represent the start of a new era in Chinese accounting history.