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China Merges Intermediate Businesses
China has merged the administration of three major intermediate businesses to provide fair competition for both Chinese and foreign practitioners, said Minister of Finance Xiang Huaicheng Tuesday.
He said that the former China Association of Certified Assets Appraisal Agents, the China Association of Certified Taxation Agents and China Association of Certified Accountants have already merged and are under the supervision of the China Association of Certified Accountants.
The merger will affect 300,000 professional and tens of thousands of agent companies around China.
The merge followed China's successful attempt to merge auditing services with the certified accountant sector. China is also planning to reshuffle appraisal services and legal services.
Xiang said that the Ministry of Finance will release a report on the future development of intermediate companies in China by the end of the year.
These move is aimed to develop an intermediate service sector that is in line with international practices, and is objective and fair.
China now has 35 kinds of specialized intermediate agents. In contrast, there are only two major categories of intermediate agents in the west, namely lawyer offices and certified accountant offices.
Xiang said that the intermediate agents are so specialized in certain areas that they are no match for international consulting companies in terms of business diversity and services.
Vice Minister of Finance Zhang Youcai blamed this state of affairs on excessive government intervention in business sectors.
He noted that in the past, various government departments have used their administrative power to set different standards and regulations for specific intermediate agents. By creating and controlling a specific category of intermediate business, they obtained their own sphere of influence in the market.
He said that in the past, most government departments have set up one or more intermediate agent companies to turn administrative power into economic returns.
The central government has decided by the end of the year, all these intermediate companies have to be independent of their government protectors in terms of personnel, finance, business and titles. All intermediate companies such as accountant offices will become independent and self-governed.
Xiang said that this is a major step forward by the government to stop intervention in companies. He said that the intermediate agent sector will develop independently. The power and authority of professional associations will also be greatly expanded.
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