BEIJING: China will strengthen regulation over accounting firms’ data management, a move that experts said will bolster the country’s data security, further safeguard national security and facilitate cross-border auditing cooperation.
The Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission issued a circular late on Monday which unveiled a new set of draft rules, and sought professional opinion by Dec 11.
According to the draft rules, under certain circumstances, China will carry out a cybersecurity review of data processing activities of accounting firms that audit sectors crucial to the Chinese economy or people’s livelihoods.
The draft rules also urged the authorities concerned to implement full-range supervision and inspections, and continuously strengthen daily supervision of accounting firms undertaking audits of businesses in important sectors such as finance, energy, telecommunications, transportation, science, technology and defense.
“The new rules are good news for China’s national data security. Ensuring data confidentiality is an important and globally accepted requirement for auditors providing services to clients,” said Liu Feng, a professor at Xiamen University in Fujian province. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
