I am pleased to announce that after months of discussion between the Hong Kong Society of Accountants (HKSA) and the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China (MOF) ( 中國財政部 ) and the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) ( 中國註冊會計師協會 ) via the MOF/CICPA/HKSA Joint Task Force, an agreement on Mutual Examination Paper Exemptions for Mainland and Hong Kong Accountants ( 內地與香港註冊會計師考試科目相互豁免協議 ) was signed between the MOF and their Hong Kong counterparts, the Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau of the HKSAR Government, alongside the signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) II agreement in Beijing today.

The agreement provides for persons who have passed the PRC CPA Uniform Examination ( 中國註冊會計師全國統一考試 ) to be exempted from two subjects: Module B Financial Management and Module C Auditing and Information Management of the HKSA Qualification Programme (QP); and for persons who have passed the QP to be exempted from two subjects: Financial Cost Management ( 財務成本管理 ) and Auditing ( 審計 ) of the PRC CPA Uniform Examination.

The Council is extremely delighted by this achievement, which represents the first step towards the HKSA's long-term goal of achieving mutual recognition of the accounting qualifications between the Mainland and Hong Kong . We shall continue to work closely with CICPA on the implementation details and members will be kept up-to-date on this.

Also, we have not lost sight of the interests of the non-QP qualified HKSA members, who will not be qualified for exemptions from the two subjects of the PRC CPA Uniform Examination under this agreement at this stage. The exemption arrangements for these members have been included as an agenda item for our next discussions at the MOF/CICPA/HKSA Joint Task Force.

This agreement is a major achievement made possible only through the collective hard work and dedication of many people involved, in particular members of the Advisory Group to the MOF/CICPA/HKSA Joint Task Force and the Joint Task Force members.

I hope you would join me in celebrating yet another achievement by the HKSA as we proceed with our re-branding campaign and many other new initiatives. We count on your support in moving on with our new name, vision and goals.