Internal Auditing Standards, International Comparative Studies

China Internal Auditing Standards, including the Primary Standard and ten Special Standards was announced by China Institute of Internal Audit (CIIA) on April 12th, 2003. The birth of CIAS is a great historic event in the history of China's Internal Auditing with its own inevitability. First of all, it meets the need of integrating the country's auditing standards system. Second, it meets the need of improving China's internal auditing legislation. Thirdly, it meets the need of quickening construction steps of China's internal auditing occupation. The last is that it is the natural result of China's reforms of economic and political systems.International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (ISPPIA) and CIAS are published in different environments. This paper compares basic structure of CIAS with that of ISPPIA, then gives both of them detailed analysis and appraisal on the basis of comparison between CIAS principles and ISPPIA principles.Different internal audit development levels, different administration and impact of governments, and different law environments are main causes of difference between ISPPIA and CIAS. The article gives a general evaluation of CIAS and proposes that CIIA should draw up special standards about independence of internal audit activity, special standards about quality assurance and special standards about internal audit management. In the last part, the article puts forward some measures to push the enforcement of CIAS, such as speeding up the innovation of corporations, stimulating the transition of internal audit supervision system, cultivating internal auditors and strengthening national cooperation between China and other countries.