China (Beijing) - October 2007
ACCA CHINA PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS EVENT AND CAREERS DAY FORUM
Beijing, China, October 2007
Over 90 delegates attended the highly successful ACCA China Careers Day Forum, organised as part of ACCA's professionalism and ethics initiatives. Delegates were welcomed to the Beijing Landmark Hotel by ACCA president Gill Ball, who spoke on professionalism and ethics in accountancy, before enjoying an afternoon of presentations on a variety of subjects; the event was brought to a close with a speech from ACCA chief executive Allen Blewitt, who described the way in which improved professional ethics could add value to business.
Delegates heard from a number of high profile guest speakers, with Yang Zhiguo, deputy secretary general of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants, being first to address the audience. Speaking on the role of accounting associations in promoting ethics, he described the measures that his organisation had taken to improve professional abilities, practice and ethics, and the significant achievements that had been made.
He was followed by Gao Zhuo, deputy general manager of the China Complant Import and Export Company, who looked at the competition facing Chinese state owned enterprises (SOEs), and the professional qualities of the management within them. 'Corporate governance is greatly affected by the quality and ability of executives and this remains a big problem for SOEs' he said, adding, 'SOEs are a valuable resource and so we need to relieve them of their burdens and cultivate a high quality management team so that they can compete effectively in the market.'
Next to speak was Martin Foley who described the professionalism and ethics practices at PwC, where he is a partner. He stressed the importance of ethical leadership, commenting 'managers should be seen as the 'model' of ethical values and behaviours, as a reliance on a code of conduct is not sufficient'. He added that ethical education should adopt the same rigour as technical education: 'good ethics education requires learners to think critically before making decisions with ethical implications – professional bodies, such as ACCA, have a role to play in this.'
The final presentation was given by Meng Yan, dean of the School of Accountancy at the Central University of Finance and Economics. He spoke on the need to establish a programme of co-operation with relevant organisations, including ACCA, together with initiatives such as an overseas internship programme for senior students.
Related photographs
(click on each photograph to see a bigger version)
Photo 1: ACCA's CEO - Allen Blewitt
Photo 2: Yang Zhiguo - deputy secretary general of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Photo 3: cctv 9 interview with Gill Ball - ACCA President