Opening the door to accounting change. Transformations in Chinese public sector accounting

Abstract

Accounting has changed radically in China over the last 30 years, a transformation which is associated with one of the most astonishing episodes of economic development witnessed in modern times. Most researchers of accounting in China focus their attention on contemporary business accounting or identify challenges for the future. This article takes a different perspective. First, it investigates accounting changes in the Chinese public sector. It explores how public sector accounting has been involved in the process of modernizing the state bureaucracy. Second, the article takes a historical viewpoint and attempts to understand the changes in public sector accounting regulation which have taken place in recent decades. We identify various streams of regulation and waves of policy outputs over time. Four main phases of continuity and change are also located, providing a framework in which future researchers may analyze accounting developments in the post-Open Door period. We define these phases as: restoration, revision, innovation and maintenance.