Article 1    These Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Audit Law of the People's Republic of China and relevant stipulations laid down by the Ministry of Personnel on reforming titles of professional posts for the purpose of standardizing management of technical qualifications of the auditing profession.

Article 2    The system of technical qualifications of the auditing profession shall be practiced among auditing personnel.

Technical qualifications of the auditing profession shall include junior qualification (auditing clerks, assistant auditors), medium qualification (auditors) and senior qualification (senior auditors).

Article 3    Junior and medium technical qualifications of the auditing profession shall be obtained after their candidates sit in the national examinations specially designed for this purpose and reach the qualifying standards.

Article 4    Contents of examination papers designed for junior and medium technical qualifications of the auditing profession and conditions to be met by entrants shall be determined according to relevant stipulations concerning such examinations laid down by the CNAO and the Ministry of Personnel.

Article 5    State and local organizations in charge of examination management shall carry out effective organization of the examinations in accordance with working requirements about the examinations designed for technical qualifications of the auditing profession issued by the CNAO and the Examination Office for Technical Qualifications of the Auditing profession in the Ministry of Personnel.

Auditing personnel of the central government departments and their subordinate units shall sit in the examinations at the localities where their respective departments or units are situated.

Audit offices at the level of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government together with the Xinjiang Regiment for Production and Construction shall actively cooperate with the relevant organizations in charge of examination management to facilitate the success of such management.

Article 6    Senior technical qualification of the auditing profession shall be obtained through appraisal and election by the Committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors.

Conditions for applying for as well as appraisal and election of senior auditors shall be determined according to the Circular on the Issuance of (Experimental) Conditions for Appraisal and Election of Senior Auditors by the Ministry of Personnel.

Article 7    Departments of the State Council, various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government shall organize and establish their respective Committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors to carry out appraisal and election of senior auditors for the above departments of the State Council, provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government according to requirements of the Circular Concerning Interim Provisions on the Several Issues in Electing and Engaging Professionals for Technical Posts in Enterprises and Undertakings and those of the Circular Concerning Relevant Issues in Re-organizing and Re-establishing Committees for the Appraisal and Election of Professionals for Technical Posts.

Article 8    Audit offices of the departments of the State Council and audit institutions of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government shall actively produce relevant suggestions and opinions and report them to competent personnel departments for approval in the course of organizing and establishing or increasing and adjusting members of the committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors.

Article 9     A committee for appraisal and election of senior auditors shall consist of experts proficient in relevant academic and professional areas, fair in conduct, of high integrity and with public recognition, among whom 1/3 shall be young or middle-aged experts.

A committee for appraisal and election of senior auditors shall consist of no fewer than 17 persons with one director and one to two deputy directors to preside over appraisal and election conducted by the committee.

Where there are vacancies for members of the committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors, they shall be timely filled up or necessary adjustments thereof shall be made according to specific situations.

Article 10    Recommendations for applying for the qualification of senior auditors shall be made according to the following procedures:
(1) Recommendations shall be made by personnel departments of  relevant working units according to results of annual benchmarking of the recommended or benchmarking of the recommended during his term of office, which shall include review of such basic conditions of the recommended as formal records of schooling, qualifications, level of foreign languages, achievements in performance, thesis and publications (translations);
(2) The recommended shall submit letters of recommendation produced by at least two experts in finance, economics or auditing, and professional reports on his/her performance on the post of medium technical qualifications and shall fill up the Registration Form for Benchmarking Professional Personnel and the Form for Appraising and Electing Professionals for Technical Posts;
(3) The working unit of the recommended shall review item by item the submitted application documents such as the Form for Appraising and Electing Professionals for Technical Posts, assume responsibility for the truthfulness of such documents, conduct integrated evaluation of the formal records of schooling, qualifications, achievements in performance and actual professional grounding of the recommended and produce stamped opinions of recommendation.

Article 11    A committee for appraisal and election of senior auditors shall independently exercise its power of appraisal and election according to the following procedures:
(1) Relevant divisions of the committee shall review, inspect and accept application documents and shall submit the qualified ones to the committee for appraisal and election;
(2) Where the committee holds meetings of appraisal and election, the number of attendants and the generation of effective results of appraisal and election shall be determined by stipulations laid down in the Circular Concerning Relevant Issues in Re-organizing and Re-establishing Committees for the Appraisal and Election of Professionals for Technical Posts;
(3) Members of the committee shall produce opinions of appraisal and election concerning the candidates and determine whether the candidates satisfy the qualifying conditions for senior auditors.  Such opinions of appraisal and election shall be made with rigorous wording, appropriate evaluation, sufficient details and succinct language;
(4) Results of appraisal and election shall be signed by the director of the  committee and stamped by the committee (or with procedures of appraisal and election completed according to relevant stipulations laid down by the personnel departments) and shall thereafter be notified to the respective recommending (entrusting) units.  

Article 12    The committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors shall stick to the principle of equality and fairness, insist on a realistic, serious and keen working attitude, conduct their tasks in a strict and scientific manner and observe disciplines of appraisal and election.

Article 13    Where relevant departments of the State Council, various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government fail to satisfy the conditions for organizing and establishing their respective committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors, they may entrust the committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors of those departments, localities or units which meet the above-mentioned conditions to carry out such appraisal and election.  For such entrusted appraisal and election to be valid, it is requisite to have letters of entrusted appraisal and election produced by competent personnel departments.  Appraisals and elections entrusted by individuals or between different units are invalid.

Article 14    The committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors or personnel departments at the provincial or ministry levels shall have the power to remove the qualification of senior auditors where such qualification is obtained through cheating or falsification of formal record of schooling, qualifications and achievements in performance or other dishonest means.

Article 15    The committees for appraisal and election of senior auditors of relevant departments of the State Council, various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government shall put forward requirements for specific arrangement of the annual jobs of recommendation, appraisal and election according to relevant stipulations and specific situations related to such jobs at the time.

Article 16    The authority to interpret these Provisions rests with the CNAO.

Article 17    These Provisions shall come into effect as of January 1, 1997.