The Accounting Law was promulgated in 1985 and amended in 1993, 1999 and 2017 respectively. The latest revision entered into force on November 5, 2017.

There are 52 articles in total.

The key points are as follows:

1.State organs, social organizations, companies, enterprises, institutions and other organizations (hereinafter generally referred to as units) must handle accounting affairs in accordance with this Law.

2.The department of finance under the State Council shall administer the accounting work throughout the country.

3.All units must set up account books according to law and ensure their truthfulness and completeness.

4.Entries into account books must be based on the examined and verified accounting documents and comply with the provisions of related laws, administrative regulations and the State’s unified accounting system.

5.The language used for accounting records shall be Chinese. In the national autonomous areas, a national language commonly used in the area may concurrently be used for accounting records. A foreign investment enterprise, foreign enterprise or any other foreign organization in the territory of the People’s Republic of China may concurrently use a foreign language for its accounting records.

6.Companies and enterprises must, according to the economic and business transactions actually taken place and in accordance with the provisions of the State’s unified accounting system, verify, compute and record their assets, liabilities, creditor’s rights, incomes, expenses, costs and profits.