The Ministry of Finance (“MOF”) has been for a long time working to develop a set of Chinese Accounting Standards that are largely in line with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). The MOF issued its first Standard in 1997. To date, 17 standards have been adopted and others are still under preparation.
A complete list of CAS is set out in the table below.
| Accounting Standards | Effective Date | Applicable to |
| Disclosure of Related Party Relationships and Transactions | 1 Jan. 1997 | Listed enterprises |
| Cash Flow Statements (minor revised in 2001) | 1 Jan. 2001 | All enterprises |
| Events Occurring After the Balance Sheet Date | 1 Jan. 1998 | Listed enterprises |
| Debt Restructuring (revised significantly in 2001) | 1 Jan. 2001 | All enterprises |
| Revenue | 1 Jan. 1999 | Listed enterprises |
| Investments (minor revised in 2001) | 1 Jan. 2001 | Joint Stock Limited Enterprises (prior to 1 January 2001 it applied to listed enterprises only) |
| Construction Contracts | 1 Jan. 1999 | Listed enterprises |
| Changes in Accounting Policies and Estimates and Corrections of Accounting Errors (minor revised in 2001) | 1 Jan. 2001 | All enterprises (prior to 1 January 2001 it was listed enterprises only) |
| Non-monetary Transactions (revised significantly in 2001)/ | 1 Jan. 2001 | All enterprises |
| Contingencies | 1 July 2000 | All enterprises |
| Intangible Assets | 1 Jan. 2001 | Joint Stock Limited Enterprises |
| Borrowing Costs | 1 Jan. 2001 | All enterprises |
| Leases | 1 Jan. 2001 | All enterprises |
| Interim Financial Reporting | 1 Jan. 2002 | Listed enterprises |
| Inventories | 1 Jan. 2002 | Joint Stock Limited Enterprises |
| Fixed Assets | 1 Jan. 2002 | Joint Stock Limited Enterprises |
| Accounting Standards forBusiness Enterprises ——Basics | 15 Feb. 2006 | All enterprises |
