The first overseas center for China's Certified Public Accountants (CPA) Uniform Examination will start operation in Brussels, capital of Belgium on Jan. 26, Xinhua learned on Tuesday from the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accounts (CICPA).

 

The three day examination will be organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales based in the United Kingdom.

 

The 2006 CPA Uniform Examination Syllabus issued by the Ministry of Finance would apply to European examinees. Examination subjects include accounting, auditing, management of financial costs, Economic Law and Taxation Law.

 

Foreigners who pass the annual examination can apply for the CICPA membership. Only after they have had two years of working experiences in this business could they practice the profession in China.

 

Wang Jun, vice minister of finance, said that having a European center for the CPA Uniform Examination is an important step for the Chinese accounting profession to implement its strategy of cultivating talents.

 

"It will raise the profile of the CPA uniform exam and increase the number of CICPA's overseas members. It will also raise the profile of the Chinese CPA profession on the international stage and enhance its competitiveness," he said.

 

China started CPA examination on 1991 and opened the exam to foreigners in 1994. A special exam center targeting foreigners was set up in Hong Kong in 1999.

 

More than 600,000 people sit for the exam each year. Only 140,000 of the nearly six million examinees have passed the exam so far.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 3, 2007)