ABSTRACT
The accounting profession consists of accounting practitioners providing professional accounting or independent auditing services to the public. The Chinese government decided to restore public accounting in the early 1980s, in conjunction with the restoration of the state audit supervision. Owing to a severe shortage of qualified public accountants, an expedient approach of certified public accountants certification was introduced before 1994 by the Chinese government in order to expand public accounting practices. The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants formulated a set of practical rules for public accountants in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as an initial attempt to develop a Chinese equivalent of generally accepted auditing standards. The numbers include the Certified Public Auditors, another professional designation for practitioners in public accounting. The number of public practitioners was small, while the business volume of public accounting was insignificant.
