China, US reach audit inspection agreement

China has reached an agreement with the US authorities, allowing the latter to observe official auditor inspections in China, Securities Times reported on Friday.

The observation is meant to help the US authorities understand the inspection procedures used by China, which is an important part of decisions to come out of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue. The observation will not include detailed reviews of specific audits, Securities Times said.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in the US announced in May that it was close to an agreement to observe audit inspections in China. Reuters claimed that US companies have lost billions of dollars on China-based companies listed on US exchanges after questions were raised about the companies' accounts since 2010.