Hong Kong plays an important role in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and Mainland China offers our members the opportunity to develop their business and careers. To strengthen the Institute’s value proposition and overall standing in the Mainland, a strategic plan for Mainland China was developed during the year.

Fostering closer collaboration with Mainland partners

In July 2022, the Institute co-organized the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Accountancy Summit cum the Inauguration Ceremony of the High-end CPA Talent Training Programme with the Guangdong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (GDICPA), Hong Kong Association of Registered Public Interest Entity Auditors Limited (PIEAA) and the Union of Associations of Professional Accountants of Macau by virtually connecting the three venues in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Macau. Government officials, accounting industry leaders and experts shared their insights and exchanged views on CPA talent development strategy to support the sustainable development of the GBA. The GDICPA-HKICPA-PIEAA jointly-organized “High-end CPA Talent Training Programme” was also launched at the Summit.

In February 2023, the President and Vice Presidents of the Institute joined a field visit to Guangzhou, Nansha and Qianhai where they participated in seminars with representatives from GDICPA, PIEAA and local government departments. During the visit, they provided suggestions and comments on enhancing the integration of Hong Kong CPAs into the GBA. They also shared mechanisms and measures to facilitate their work and living in the region.

To reconnect with Mainland partners after the reopening of the border, the Institute hosted a cocktail reception in Nansha, Guangzhou in March 2023, attended by over 120 participants from local government departments, professional bodies, universities and firms.

During February to June 2023, the Institute’s leadership team and the Chief Executive and Registrar, along with the GBA Committee and Small and Medium Practices Committee members hosted a number of Mainland delegations from the GBA, discussing areas for collaboration and aligning on policy advocacy through joint initiatives.

After a three-year hiatus under the COVID-19, the leadership team and the Chief Executive and Registrar paid a visit to Beijing in May 2023. They met up with leaders and representatives from the Accounting Department of the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants as well as the China Securities Regulatory Commission, exchanged views on the latest development of the industry, discussed mechanisms to strengthen the existing cooperation as well as explored new areas for partnership.

Creating business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area

Development in the GBA remains a strategic focus for our members. To help members seize opportunities in the GBA, the Institute has continued to focus on executing the GBA work plan 2022 endorsed by the GBA Committee:

• Continued to conduct the GBA Experience Sharing Series to facilitate information exchange and support members in exploring opportunities in the GBA. Four webinars were delivered covering topics ranging from tax subsidy, digitalization, pre-initial public offering services, business culture and protocols in the GBA, attracting over 1,200 attendees.
• Launched the GBA Field Visit Series in March 2023 to facilitate member connections with peers in Mainland GBA cities and provide insights into local business partners.
• Advocated for the relaxation of practising barriers and preferential policies in the GBA for Hong Kong CPAs through aligning with our key stakeholders across the Mainland.

Helping members weather challenging times

To support our members in the Mainland and those with business interest in the region, we conducted 10 continuing professional development webinars which attracted around 5,000 enrolments. These webinars covered a range of Mainland-specific topics, including big data-based enterprise decision-making systems, business development in the metaverse, requirements and challenges of ESG information disclosure and the GBA tax policy, among others. Our China Desk also handled members’ inquiries regarding provisional license applications and other accounting policies and procedures in the Mainland.

Promoting the QP and nurturing future talents

This year, we organized 24 Qualification Programme (QP) promotional talks in Mainland China targeting universities and CPA firms both on campus and online. Additionally, we invited QP graduates and members to host online career sharing sessions to inspire students. The QP column on the HKICPA WeChat platform featured over 30 articles written by QP graduates, discussing exam and workshop preparation experience and their career advancements after completing QP.

The QP scholarship and incentive programme were also leveraged to increase the awareness of the qualification and boost QP student intake. The HKICPA Business Case Competition 2022 in Mainland, one of the Institute’s annual flagship events, attracted 425 teams from 69 institutions and had approximately 2,000 online viewers for the final competition.

Communicating with our Mainland key stakeholders

We keep our Mainland key stakeholders informed on events, industry policy and insights, thought leadership opinions through various digital channels including the Institute’s WeChat, Zhihu, Douyin, Baidu, the dedicated GBA website, a Mainland focused media network and Xinlicai, an MoF supervised magazine. The number of our WeChat followers has been steadily increasing to over 19,000 as at June 2023. The Institute’s official account at Zhihu and Douyin had been launched and maintained to provide an alternative content channel to our members, students and prospective students.

Other support

The Institute’s website is regularly updated with relevant content about the Mainland and links to relevant bodies, such as government departments, accounting institutes, CPA practices with operations in the Mainland, and Mainland accounting and auditing standards. We also facilitate members’ subscriptions to Mainland accounting and tax journals, yearbooks and study materials for the PRC CPA Uniform Examination.