To promote China's research and application of XBRL and to actively respond to the directions of Deputy Minister Wang Jun, the Accounting Informatization Committee of Accounting Society of China (ASC) held a XBRL symposium in the Research Institute for Fiscal Science of the Ministry of Finance on July 31, 2006. The symposium was sponsored by the Committee and undertaken by the Institute, with support from Kingdee Software (China) Co., Ltd. Participating in the symposium were more than 40 representatives from the Accounting Regulatory Department of the Ministry of Finance, the ASC, colleges and universities, institutions of scientific research and the practice field, all engaged in the XBRL research and application. With keynote reports and group discussion, the symposium conducted in-depth discussion and analyses on issues like the XBRL research in China, the standard formulation, the current situation of XBRL research and the application promotion strategies as well as the construction of the Committee.

Five professors including Yang Zhounan made such keynote reports as the "Research on Strategies for Application and Promotion of XBRL in China", "Government's Responsibilities in Formulation and Application of XBRL Standard as Revealed in Major Events", "A Comparative Study on XBRL and GB/T19581-2004", "XBRL in Another Perspective", and "Review of XBRL's Application on SZSE ". In the group discussion, the representatives conducted hot discussion on XBRL research and standard formulation as well as the XBRL application techniques in combination with the main speeches, with consensuses reached on the following aspects:

1.       It is a practical option in line with national conditions to establish a mechanism for XBRL research and standard formulation under governmental guidance.

(1) With the analysis from the perspective of application needs, the government regulatory authorities, including the Ministry of Finance, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission and accounting firms, are the direct sources of requirements for XBRL application.

(2) With the analysis from the perspective of the government's functions, information provided by XBRL essentially belongs to public information products, whose benefits lie in the increase of overall social benefits and the reduction of information exchange costs, in the improvement of accounting information quality and the enhancement of accounting information relativity as well as in the effective growth space reduction for false accounting information, and it will also serve to purify the market economy environment and construct a harmonious society. As a result, XBRL's research and promotion are not only the governmental authorities' obligations but also their imperative responsibilities.

(3) Considering that domestic accounting and auditing principles are all formulated under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance, the research on XBRL should also follow suit. The Ministry's leadership will help to establish standard expression of accounting titles and report items in the domestic XBRL Taxonomy.

(4) As has been proved by foreign practices of XBRL research and application, the XBRL research under government's guidance helps to quickly establish a platform for XBRL research and development and integrate resources.

2. The prerequisites for developing XBRL research and standard formulation have been met.

China currently has possessed the preliminary capability of promoting XBRL research and application, and with an increasing mature environment for its application in China, the objective conditions for formulating relevant standards have been preliminarily met. This lies in the following specific aspects:

(1) The promulgation of accounting and auditing standards has provided a favorable practical environment for XBRL-based accounting information disclosure and created a clear framework and basis for the formulation of XBRL standard.

(2) The technical environment for promulgation of the XBRL standard has been preliminarily formed, with certain progresses in the web technology platform, the development tools and the case studies.

(3) Organizations including the Committee, some colleges and universities in Shanghai, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) have all developed in-depth research on XBRL. XBRL-related articles appear at every annual meeting of the Committee and are increasing at a geometric rate. As far as the contents are concerned, these articles have almost been keeping the same pace with international studies.

3. In order to promote the XBRL research and standard formulation, the symposium put forward the following suggestions and measures:

Firstly, a core organization of guidance and research on XBRL should be established under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance, to coordinate resources of different parties, promote the XBRL research and apply proactively for participating in XBRL International.

Secondly, existing domestic research elites should be organized to formulate as soon as possible the overall scheme for studying China's XBRL standard, with feasible timetable of research and promotion proposed for orderly development of relevant work.

Thirdly, to form a complete XBRL research system and lay a solid theory foundation for further formulation and implementation of XBRL standard in China by organizing XBRL subject research and setting up a XBRL research subject system, including researches on XBRL standard, XBRL promotion strategies, XBRL industry application mode, mutual influence between XBRL and enterprises' internal information integration, XBRL analysis tools and application platform, XBRL application risk and control as well as XBRL application evaluation system.

Fourthly, the Committee, colleges and universities as well as scientific research institutions should full play their roles and relevant experts and scholars should make their due contributions to the XBRL's promotion and application in China. They may actively explore current conditions of XBRL research and application, trace the development of international XBRL technology, and cooperate with relevant organizations in studying China's XBRL taxonomy standard on the state level and compiling XBRL application instances and put forward suggestions for XBRL promotion and application in China.

Fifthly, to build the atmosphere for XBRL research and application by reinforcing the publicity of relevant knowledge and the importance of XBRL and reserving special columns or publishing articles in professional magazines.

The symposium indicates the vital importance attached by the Ministry of Finance and the Committee to the research on XBRL and its promotion and application and will significantly promote the XBRL research and application in China.