On April 12, 2025, the establishment ceremony of the School of Advanced Accounting and Auditing at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) and the Innovation Forum on Doctoral Training in Accounting and Auditing Professional Degrees were successfully held in the first-floor auditorium of the Research and Experiment Building. Attending the ceremony were Lin Qi Yun, Director of the Accounting Department of the Ministry of Finance; Li Hai Jun, First-Class Inspector of the Accounting Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC); Zhang Yan Ping, Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee for Education and Health; Zhu Jun, Deputy Director and Party Group Member of the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau; Zhou Xuan, Deputy Commissioner and Party Group Member of the Shanghai Office of the National Audit Office; Li Wen, Chief Auditor of the Shanghai Municipal Audit Bureau; Sun Yu, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission for State-owned Assets; Tang Yun Wei, former President of SUFE; Zhi Xiao Qiang, Secretary-General of the National Steering Committee for Professional Degree Graduate Education in Accounting and Vice President of Renmin University of China; members of the SUFE Party Committee and administrative leadership; leaders from sister universities; heads of accounting and auditing disciplines; representatives from the industry; SUFE board members and alumni representatives; representatives from various functional departments and school leaders; and doctoral supervisors in accounting.
In his welcome speech, SUFE President Liu Yuan Chun extended a warm welcome and sincere thanks to the guests from all walks of life attending the ceremony on behalf of the university. He stated that the university is committed to implementing national higher education reform policies and continuously promoting the high-quality development of professional degree graduate education. The decision to establish the School of Advanced Accounting and Auditing is not only an important measure to implement national development strategies and meet social demands, but also a significant exploration for the university to advance discipline construction and talent cultivation, and an active commitment to serving national economic governance. This marks the beginning of a new journey for the development of accounting and auditing disciplines. He hoped that the new school would stand at the forefront of the industry, deepen collaborative education, and create a new highland and benchmark for cultivating high-level accounting and auditing talents, writing a new chapter for the prosperity of China's financial and economic education and empowering high-quality economic development.
Lin Qi Yun noted that the accelerating evolution of the once-in-a-century great changes and the complex and volatile international situation have put forward new and higher requirements for accounting and auditing talents. SUFE's establishment of the School of Advanced Accounting and Auditing is timely and marks a key step in the transition of accounting education from "mass cultivation" to "quality leap." He hoped that SUFE would continue to uphold its fine educational traditions and build a high-level talent training base and an innovation base for digital and intelligent accounting and auditing practices. The university should cultivate more builders of China's independent accounting and auditing knowledge system and disseminators of China's voice in international accounting governance, making greater contributions to the high-quality development of the accounting and auditing industry and to serving the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.
Zhang Yan Ping emphasized that accounting and auditing, as the "language" and "detector" of economic activities, are important cornerstones for ensuring the stable operation of the economy and the healthy development of the market. Leveraging its pioneering advantage as one of the first pilot units for accounting doctoral professional degree education in China, SUFE has officially established the School of Advanced Accounting and Auditing, fully demonstrating the university's strategic layout in the field of finance and economics. She hoped that the school would focus on cultivating high-level, composite accounting and auditing talents, deepen interdisciplinary integration and mechanism innovation, contribute a "SUFE solution" to the reform of accounting and auditing education, provide important support for Shanghai's "Five Centers" construction, and deliver more high-level "economic security guardians" to the nation.
Zhi Xiao Qiang first highly affirmed the outstanding achievements that SUFE has made in the past two decades of accounting professional degree graduate education. He also expressed high expectations for the cultivation of doctoral students in professional degrees. He stated that SUFE's academic doctoral training has a significant influence in the academic community. He hoped that the university would take the School of Advanced Accounting and Auditing as a new starting point, closely focus on the major national strategic needs, bravely undertake the mission of being one of the first pilot units in the country, explore new paths for independent talent cultivation in China, and pioneer a new paradigm for cultivating high-end accounting and auditing talents. He also hoped that the cultivation of doctoral students in professional degrees would be developed into a brand with national leadership, providing exemplary experience for the reform of professional degree doctoral education nationwide.
The establishment ceremony of the School of Advanced Accounting and Auditing at SUFE was presided over by Vice President Li Zengquan of SUFE.
Chen Xinyuan, Dean of the School of Advanced Accounting and Auditing, introduced the school’s situation and development vision. He stated that, in the face of national strategic needs and the challenges of industrial upgrading, and standing at the new starting point of the university’s approval as one of the first accounting doctoral professional degree programs in China, the school will take “exploring value-creation rules, cultivating industry elites, disseminating business civilization, and promoting social progress” as its mission. With “collaborative innovation among government, industry, academia, and research” as its characteristic, the school aims to build a world-class accounting and auditing education base rooted in China, to cultivate high-end accounting and auditing talents, and to contribute wisdom and strength to solving major practical problems in China’s accounting and auditing, empowering industrial practice, and the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.
Lin Qi Yun, Liu Yuan Chun, Zhang Yan Ping, Li Wen, Sun Yu, and Chen Xinyuan jointly unveiled the plaque for the School of Advanced Accounting and Auditing
Vice President Yao Lingzhen of SUFE presented appointment letters to the members of the new session of the Accounting Professional Degree Graduate Education Guidance Committee of SUFE.
The keynote speech session was presided over by Vice President Yao Lingzhen of SUFE
SUFE President Liu Yuan Chun delivered a keynote speech titled “Trump 2.0 and China’s Macroeconomy,” analyzing the background of the Trump administration’s tariff policies and their profound impact on world trade. He emphasized the need to deeply understand the essential differences between Trump 2.0 and 1.0 strategies, as well as the theoretical and practical contradictions within them. He also stressed the importance of in-depth research into the core and overall deployment of these strategies, and conducting strategic studies and intellectual contests from an academic perspective. This provides important insights for higher education to align with national strategies and to cultivate high-end financial and economic talents that meet the demands of the times.
Fang Hongxing, President of Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, delivered a keynote speech titled “Understanding Trends, Adapting to Changes, and Innovating—Reflections on the Target Positioning and Training Model of the Accounting Doctoral Program.” He emphasized that the accounting doctoral program should focus on cultivating high-end accounting talents with the ability to solve major practical problems. The key to innovative and high-quality development of the training model lies in differentiated competition and ecosystem building. Universities should break down disciplinary barriers, deepen university-enterprise collaboration, and closely integrate the new educational mission under China’s modernization, exploring new models for cultivating high-end accounting talents to provide talent and intellectual support for building a strong country.
Gao Yonggang, Chairman of Zhongxin Jiyuan Private Equity Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., delivered a speech titled “The Role and Basic Qualities of a CFO.” Drawing on his own work experience, he argued that a CFO is not only a financial executive but also a key participant in corporate strategic planning. He emphasized that CFOs need to deeply understand the industry, actual business operations, and capital markets of their companies, establish a profound input-output concept, and fully control and utilize both on-balance-sheet and off-balance-sheet resources. He also provided ideas on how to cultivate CFOs from multiple aspects, including talent selection pathways, knowledge accumulation, and mentor team building.
Hu Shaoxian, founding partner and Party Committee Secretary of Tianjian Certified Public Accountants, delivered a speech titled “Tianjian’s Practices and Experiences in Training Practicing Professionals.” He emphasized that Tianjian has always regarded the training of practicing professionals as the core driving force for the high-quality development of the firm. Through measures such as Party building leading cultural soul-casting, improving mechanisms and systems to empower, and stratified and categorized talent training, Tianjian has gradually built a team of practicing professionals with a strong sense of responsibility, professional quality, and professional sensitivity, providing solid talent support for the healthy development of the industry.
Lu Zhengfei, Deputy Director of the National Steering Committee for Professional Degree Graduate Education in Accounting and Professor at Peking University, delivered a keynote speech titled “How Does the IPO Market Screen ‘Good Companies’—New Thinking Under Uncertainty.” He deeply analyzed how to identify high-quality companies in a complex and changing economic environment. He emphasized that in the face of environmental uncertainty, teaching students should guide them to weaken historical trend analysis thinking and strengthen future-related analysis thinking, focusing on the company’s technological advantages, market space, and policy adaptability.
In the afternoon, the Innovation Forum on Doctoral Training in Accounting and Auditing Professional Degrees and the first meeting of the Accounting Professional Degree Graduate Education Guidance Committee of SUFE for 2025–2030 were held separately. Experts and scholars in attendance engaged in in-depth discussions on core issues such as the innovation of training models, pathways for industry-education integration, and the empowerment of cutting-edge technologies. Through cross-boundary dialogues, they reached a consensus on development and charted a course for the high-quality development of accounting professional degree education.
