Corporate disclosures made by Chinese listed companies

This paper investigates the current corporate disclosure requirements placed upon Chinese listed companies and the level of compliance with them. Although influenced by the old accounting regime adopted in the planned economy, these recently promulgated requirements represent a significant development towards a market-oriented economy. However, problems still exist, perhaps the most serious one being that these requirements are not based on users' information needs. Nonetheless, the level of compliance appeared to be high largely because these requirements are mandatory. In addition, companies voluntarily disclosed, among others, forecast earnings (largely influenced by traditional practice) and a report of the Supervisory Board (following foreign practice) although the most updated regulations have discouraged the former and made the latter compulsory. Compared with those in the planned economy, some current disclosure practices represent advances while others may be seen as deficiencies.