Recently, ACCA's CE Helen Brand kicked off her first trip to China since the pandemic. During this trip, Helen visited Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Shenzhen in the Greater Bay Area, as well as Shanghai and Beijing, where she had meetings with numerous stakeholders of ACCA.
Busy journey in China to promote the development of accountancy professionals
As a professional organisation, ACCA has been in close communication with governmental organisations, partner institutions, universities and businesses, and has shared forward-looking and professional insights with local stakeholders to help the industry grow. In addition, Helen Brand had in-depth communication with local government organisations, China Finance and Accounting Industry Associations, partner universities, employer enterprises and ACCA members on ESG, digital finance, training high-end accounting personnel, as well as recruiting and training accounting professionals.
Helen Brand's busy two-week trip to China reflects the ‘large pattern’ of ACCA's promoting the sustainable development of China's accounting industry. In an exclusive interview with the media, Helen Brand said: ‘The purpose of the visit is to ensure that ACCA continues to make positive contributions to the development of the accounting profession to support the needs of the economy and business. ACCA will continue to make professional contributions to government, the economy and businesses, and to the development of accounting professionals.’
Promote the development of green finance and sustainable growth
During Helen Brand's visit to China, ESG, green finance and sustainable development was one of the hot topics. ACCA hopes to provide strong support for the development of green finance by working closely with the Chinese government, employer enterprises and educational institutions to leverage its professional advantages in finance, accounting and other fields.
Helen Brand said: ‘Green finance will drive demand for professional accountants with the right skills, requiring accountants to be proficient not only in finance and business, but also on sustainability issues including environmental policies and regulations. Professional accountants with green finance skills will play a key role in driving the net zero transformation and transition.’
To support the development of green finance, ACCA has conducted extensive professional research and recently released the Green Finance Skills Guide, which aims to help accounting professionals gain a deeper understanding of green finance policies and master ESG data collection and assessment methods. In addition, ACCA offers a variety of green finance courses and certifications, such as the Green Finance course developed in partnership with CFA, which provides practical guidance for accounting professionals. In addition, ACCA actively promotes the popularisation and application of green finance and helps all industries achieve sustainable growth and social value by training accounting professionals with digital skills.
In addition, during her visit to China, Helen specifically visited the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Shenzhen in the Greater Bay Area. Leveraging its extensive network, ACCA has established the 'ACCA Greater Bay Area Advisory Committee' to gather expertise, cultivate professionals, provide advice to the government, and contribute to the transformation of the Greater Bay Area into a world-class metropolitan cluster. ACCA has also published multiple professional reports on the development of the Greater Bay Area and organised flagship events with a focus on the Greater Bay Area, such as the Greater Bay Area CFO Summit in 2021 and 2022, as well as the Greater Bay Area ESG Talent Development New Opportunities Forum held on April 27th this year.
Driving forward innovation in the way we develop talent to become a powerful engine driving China's high-quality development
Against the backdrop of global economic development, the demand for accounting talents in modern enterprises is increasing. As a result, ACCA is continuously updating its training model to meet the needs and challenges of the market.
For example, ACCA provides extensive training courses to expand professional knowledge and skills for accounting professionals, including on sustainability, environmental, social and corporate governance, and ESG compliance, to help companies set up balanced and low-risk sustainability programmes and green asset portfolios. The ACCA professional qualification aims to develop accounting, business and digital professionals with forward-thinking and comprehensive capabilities to achieve sustainable development and social prosperity in organisations. At the same time, ACCA is committed to the digital transformation and improving the skills of the accounting profession in this area For example, ACCA has developed online platforms such as My Exam Performance, ACCA-X, and ACCA Learning to improve the learning experience of ACCA members and future members, making ACCA's learning model more flexible and adaptable to learners' needs, to develop accounting professionals with a wide breadth of relevant skills for the future in an efficient and innovative manner.
In addition, ACCA also works with universities to upgrade and transform accountancy training programmes, jointly promote high-quality change in accounting undergraduate education, and develop skilled accounting professionals for the new era. Helen Brand believes that ‘in the medium and long term, the talent gap in ESG needs to be filled by sustainability-related talents cultivated by universities.’
ACCA is also playing an important role in helping China open up to the outside world at a high level. As the Belt and Road Initiative celebrates its 10th anniversary, ACCA has launched a number of innovative initiatives to improve the professionalism of local accountants by providing professional training, assessment and certification services to ensure that its members are at the forefront of development. For example, ACCA regards digital skills as its learning and development curriculum on accounting, as digital and data will become the core of implement content, production, delivery and monitoring of global finance teams. Through its extensive global network and acting as a 'super connector', ACCA will support Chinese enterprises with global ambitions to ‘go global’, connect China with the world, and jointly promote the economic prosperity across the globe.
ACCA has always been committed to promoting the development of China's accountancy profession. Since entering China, ACCA has trained thousands of international professional accountants for the China accountancy profession. Helen Brand said: ‘This visit to China underlines ACCA's commitment to the Chinese market. I hope ACCA can continue to make progress in the Chinese market, creating sustainable value for China's future development by developing future generations of accounting professionals.’
- ends