US, China accounting standards groups to cooperate

Accounting standard setters for the United States and China have signed an agreement designed to strengthen cooperation and communication between the two countries, the Financial Accounting Standards Board said on Monday.

The memorandum of understanding, signed April 18, will help the two countries collaborate amid a global push for a common set of high-quality accounting standards.

FASB and the China Accounting Standards Committee will strive to exchange opinions regularly and build the technical foundation for sharing views on convergence of accounting standards, the memo said.

China's accounting standard setter will send staff to work at FASB on a regular basis to research U.S. accounting rules and the Norwalk, Connecticut-based group's convergence efforts with London's International Accounting Standards Board.

FASB Chairman Robert Herz said the goal of achieving a common set of high quality accounting standards would "ultimately facilitate economic relations between the U.S. and China." (Reporting by Rachelle Younglai, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/