Press releases
Shanghai University of Finance & Economics wins 2015 Deloitte Tax Championship
Developing tax talent with “3i” attributes, creating new source of power from innovation and entrepreneurship
Published: 26 October 2015
Nearly 300 students from 66 top universities in Greater China joined the 2015 Deloitte Tax Championship, which concluded successfully in Chongqing with Shanghai University of Finance & Economics as the champion. Sun Yat-sen University and Zhongnan University of Economics & Law were at second and third places. Top honors of the essay writing competition went to Tian Zhiwei (Shanghai University of Finance & Economics), Wu Zhou (Nanjing University of Finance & Economics), and Gengchun/Zhao Zhongkuang (Peking University). Ranking in no particular order.
In her speech at the award ceremony, Deloitte China Country Tax Leader Ms. Vivian Jiang shared with teachers, students, government officials and distinguished guests on the new approach for honing the next generation of professionals in support of the sustainable development of the industry. According to Ms. Jiang, the core philosophy of the Deloitte Tax Championship is to facilitate the collaboration among academics, professional services providers, government authorities and taxpayers in developing professionals with the “3i” attributes – providing insightful solutions, adopting an integrated approach and offering innovative ideas, supporting talent development for the tax professionals of the future.
She continued to elaborate that “we're experiencing unprecedented changes in tax, business and economic environment. Initiatives such as OCED/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, or BEPS, and the One Belt One Road, or OBOR are imposing new requirements on professional service providers and the business environment in general. Without the ‘3i’attributes, practitioners would not be able to promptly and accurately understand domestic or international business environment and tax regulations, let alone collaborating with other functions or third parties from a different arena. Therefore, only those professionals with the ‘3i’ attributes would be able to obtain a thorough understanding of the tax law, and based on that, to unleash the potential of the multidisciplinary approach of ‘Tax +’. Only by doing that, they would be able to realize what Premier Li Keqiang said in a State Council meeting on October 21 that cultivating the new sources of power by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship will help leading our economy to a ‘whole new world’. ”
Ms. Maria Liang, Co-chairlady of the Deloitte Tax Championship added that such transformation in talent can only be made possible through close collaboration among academics, professional services providers, government authorities and taxpayers. Deloitte Tax Championship is happy to provide a platform that helps students to develop the “3i” attributes. There are many other best practices of such collaboration, such as, training programs and internship opportunities provided by the professional service industry and other businesses and knowledge sharing organized by industry associations. All these are helpful as we develop more talent with the “3i” attributes.
Mr. Li Linjun, Vice President and the Secretary-general of China Certified Tax Agents Association (CCTAA), spoke highly of Deloitte's contribution towards tax talent development via the Championship all these years. He pointed out, "The new normal has laid on the table the new requirements of the tax industry, and the advanced reform of tax system, tax collection and management, along with tax legislation has generated unprecedented new opportunities for the faster and better development of the tax industry."
In addition, 40 students participated in the essay competition, sharing their thoughts on hot topics including tax collection and management, property tax, and VAT reform.
“As a tax lawyer, I'm glad to see that for the late twelve years the Deloitte Tax Championship has been making a positive difference in the advancement of tax education and tax services, and in facilitating tax lawyers to play a critical role in promoting the rule of law in taxation. There is a large number of tax lawyers like myself in Deloitte. We understand our responsibilities and have been doing everything we could to influence students, teachers and friends in the industry. We strive to contribute to the tax lawyer community and the continued progression of tax professional services in the Chinese economy”, said Julie Zhang, Co-chairlady of the Deloitte Tax Championship.
Teacher Fang Hui of Shanghai University of Finance & Economics said, “Shanghai University of Economic and Finance has been in the Deloitte Tax Championship since the latter’s inception. We can say that our university has been growing together with this competition. We show our support to the Deloitte Tax Championship, which has comprehensive benefits to participants – not only helping students to improve their professional knowledge and capabilities, and analytical skills, but cultivate the spirit of team work and cooperation. In addition, the competition has provided a platform of learning opportunity for participants to practice their class room knowledge with business case studies. It supports the growth journey of teachers and students every time they participate in the competition.”
Of the 36 entries received from post graduate students in the essay competition, 8 were shortlisted for the final competition. In the group competition, 13 finalist teams were selected from regional competitions, including:
- Hong Kong Baptist University
- Jiangxi University of Finance & Economics
- Minjiang University
- National Chengchi University
- National Taiwan University
- Ocean University of China
- Shandong University
- Shanghai University of Finance & Economics
- Southwestern University of Finance & Economics
- Sun Yat-sen University
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Xiamen University
- Zhongnan University of Economics & Law
Launched in 2004, the Deloitte Tax Championship is a pivotal initiative of the Deloitte Research Foundation, which promotes education, research and innovation in the field of taxation by supporting an array of national and local programs in the region.
(Traditional Chinese version)