Twenty-four of China's state-owned enterprises will implement new company accounting standards from 2007, said a senior official with the State-owned Assets and Administration Commission (SAAC) on Friday.

Meng Jianmin, vice secretary-general of the SAAC, said at a conference on accounting and auditing standards that before the end of 2008, all SOEs would adopt the new accounting standards.

The first 24 SOEs adopting the new standards include China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), Baosteel Group, AirChina, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Ocean Shipping Group Company (COSCO).

China will introduce new accounting standards for all listed firms and new auditing standards for all certified public accountants firms in line with international standards from Jan. 1 next year.

The Ministry of Finance issued the new standards in February. Experts said they marked the establishment of accounting and auditing standards in line with China's economic development and the international standards.

Lou Jiwei, Vice Minister of Finance, told the conference that financial departments and institutes for certified public accountants should prepare for the transition by establishing effective problem-response systems, providing policy or technical guidance, strengthening supervision and enhancing communications with supervisory institutions.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2006)