李建生总裁采访

记者：
您所在的公司，中国中铁股份有限公司是中国国内最大的建设公司之一。请问您自2007年担任财务总监和副总裁一职以来，取得了那些主要成就？

李建生：
2007年以来，我带领、组织全公司财务会计系统主要取得了以下几个方面的成就：

1．构建财务管理体系，强化财务集中控制。统一了会计政策，初步建立了以产权、资本关系为基础，股份公司对子公司经济活动的指导、检查、纠偏为手段的财务集中管理控制体系；组织修订并落实了集团财务战略，增强总部集中管控能力，发挥经济资源配置功能，促进业务结构优化，推进产业结构重组。

2．规范预算管理机制，发挥预算统领作用。建立健全预算管理体系，形成集团内部部门合力，共同探索推进预算工作的途径，从编报、审核、调整、批复、考核等各环节入手，不断深化预算管理工作，逐步推行包括经营预算、薪酬预算、投融资预算、财务预算在内的全面预算管理。

3.努力夯实资产质量，推进企业持续发展。通过清理和理顺产权关系，突出了各级企业的主业；通过进一步加强财务预算和工程项目管理，加强审计和全面的业绩考核工作，夯实了项目和企业的资产质量。

4．健全会计核算体系，提高会计信息质量。结合新准则和企业实际情况，组织制定了企业会计核算办法，修订了有关会计政策，并根据实际变化，及时细化和补充相关核算规定，为推动全公司财务信息集中、确保会计政策统一，提高会计信息质量奠定了基础。

5．完善绩效考核管理，引导企业持续发展。修订印发了企业效绩考核办法，通过多指标、全方位对子企业实行差异化管理，按业务板块分类考核，达到引导企业经济行为，加强基础管理，提高经济效益，科学客观评判各企业经营成果的目的。

6．深化项目财务管理，提高项目盈利能力。通过建立健全项目财务管理机构，规范项目财务管理制度，实施重点项目财务监管，开展项目财务预算管理调研等措施加强了项目财务管理水平，切实提高企业盈利水平。

7．适应财会工作新要求，实施财务信息化建设。组织推进财务信息化建设稳步实施，构建了中国中铁财务信息集成平台，提升了管理效能。

8．满足新形势要求，加强财务队伍建设。抓好培训工作，提高了财务队伍的整体素质和学历结构。

9. 加强外部协调沟通，积极寻求财政支持。及时掌握财政、财务政策的变化情况，了解监管部门年度监管重点，有针对性地加强整改，降低企业税务、财政检查、信息披露规范等方面的风险。通过积极沟通财政部门，就地震灾害损失、海外矿业发展、企业技术进步等取得了财政资金的大力支持。

记者：
全球金融危机对您的公司带来了哪些影响？

李建生：
受金融危机影响，全公司生产经营面临着诸多的严峻考验，给企业带来了较大的经营风险。一是全球经济危机使公司海外业务和金融业务受到较大冲击；二是财务控制更加困难，受金融危机影响，部分项目业主支付能力困难，违约率可能提高，项目工程帐款回收速度降低。同时，原材料价格不稳定，增加了企业成本管理的难度，对企业管理提出了挑战。

同时，受惠于国家政策调整，作为建筑施工企业也面临一系列的发展机遇。一是传统业务市场空间增大。金融危机发生后，国家提出要“综合运用减税、扩大中央政府投资等多种手段加大对保障民生、扩大内需、转变发展方式和结构调整的支持力度”，并推出“4万亿经济刺激计划”，以扩大基础设施建设投资拉动内需。作为建筑企业，这为我们进一步拓展市场空间，扩大生产规模，促进企业又好又快发展带来了新机遇；二是有利于改善融资环境和成本。央行连续下调存款准备金率，有利于扩大整体信贷额度，改善中国中铁的融资环境，融资难的局面将得到进一步缓解。同时，央行连续下调贷款利息，一定程度上也降低了企业财务成本；三是主要建筑材料，尤其是钢材价格下跌，降低了工程成本。

记者：
在您的职业发展中，您认为最重要的因素是什么？（比如：专业发展与学习机会，深造，培训辅导）

李建生：
我认为不断的学习，不断地积累知识，提高业务能力是最重要的。知识是职业发展的基础，是能力体系的支撑。可以肯定地说，无知者必无能。知识体系的结构必须是合理的，不是说知识越多就越好，要不断地升级与更换。一个人要建立合理的知识结构,首先必须学习和掌握广博的知识,不仅要有自然科学知识,还要掌握一些人文科学知识和管理方面的知识,并注意关心国内外经济发展动态,不断充实自己.要经常参加业务培训，拓展知识的广度。其次要多参加社会实践,积累感性认识和实践性经验,没有感性认识作基础,书本上的知识也难于掌握,更难于应用到生产实践中去。最近几年，我连续参加了国务院国资委和法国HEC商学院共同举办的企业高级管理人员工商管理硕士课程学习以及长江商学院的学习，受益匪浅。

记者：
成为专业团体的会员，对您意味着什么？

李建生：
有幸参加澳大利亚国家会计师协会，对我所在的企业、我所带领的工作团队以及我个人都具有重要的作用。澳大利亚国家会计师协会给我提供了一个很好的平台。一是这个平台可以使我学习到更多的知识，我相信，在澳大利亚国家会计师协会能够接触到更多更科学更先进的财会知识，这些知识对我是有益的补充。二是这个平台可以和全球的同行们增进了解，加强交流。通过横向比较学习，能够增强财会工作的视野，指导具体的工作。三是这个平台可以更快地促进自身能力的提高，也可以带动我所在的企业会计工作水平的提高。通过接受贵协会的培训，对自身工作能力和工作水平必将有一个很大的推动，通过个人的学习，我也可以将一些有益的内容带回到我所在的企业，对企业的发展也必将发挥重要的作用。

Questions for Ms Li

Reporter：
Your company, China Railway, is one of China’s largest construction companies. What are your main achievements since you took on the role of CFO and vice president in 2007?

Ms Li：
Main financial accounting achievements ever since I took on the role of CFO and vice president in 2007 can be concluded in the following several aspects:

1.Construct financial management system, strengthen central control. Helped unifying accounting policy, and established central management control scheme based on copyright and assets relationship, by means of directing, inspecting and correcting economic activities of subsidiary companies by joint-hold company; organized amending and implementing corporate financial strategy, so as to help strengthening central control capacity of head quarter, employing economic resource reallocation function, speeding optimization of business structure, and driving industrial restructuration.

2.Standardize budget management scheme, employ budget’s predominant function. Helped to construct sound and solid budget management system to formalise collective team working spirit among internal departments, and to guide the whole team to enhance budgeting methods, starting with audit drawing, checking, adjustment, approval and assessment, so as to further budget management and implement gradually comprehensive budget management system, which includes operation budget, remuneration budget, investment & financing budget, and financial budget.

3.Reinforce asset quality, promote corporate sustainable development. Sorted out property relations, stressed all-level business highlights; further enhanced financial budget and project management, also strengthened auditing and comprehensive performance assessing work, so that to consolidate project development and corporate assets quality.

4.Establish and improve accounting system, enhance accounting information quality. Combined with new accounting rules and corporate actual situation, I organised setting up corporate accounting strategies, amending relevant accounting policies, and based on actual changes; specified and supplemented related accounting checking regulations so as to promote integration of corporate financial information and unity of accounting policies, which would lay solid foundation for improving accounting information quality.

5.Better performance assessment management, guide corporate sustainable development direction. Released amended corporate performance assessment methods; realised differences in management to branch companies through multiple indexes and comprehensive angle; also realised efficient management based on specific business unit, so as to guide corporate economic activities, strengthen basic administration, improve economic achievements and judge corporate operation result more scientifically.

6.Further financial management of each project, improve project profitability. Establishing and improving comprehensive financial management scheme, standardizing project financial management system, implementing key project financial supervision, and carrying out project financial budget management research so as to enhance project financial management level and to improve corporate profitability.

7.Adapted to new requirements of fiscal work, implement financial informatization construction. Organized and promoted financial informatization construction, established integrated information platform for China Railway, and improved management efficiency.

8.Suit to new requirements of new situation, enhance financial team-building. Focused on training to the team, so as to improve comprehensive quality and knowledge structure of financial team.

9.Enhance communication with external side, search financial support. Mastered fiscal and financial updates, new policy changes in particular, so as to understand key management points, and to strengthen according adjustment to lower corporate taxation, financial inspection and information disclosure risks. Through active communication with financial departments, obtained financial supports on earthquake losses, overseas mining exploration and corporate technical developments.

Reporter：
What impact has the global financial crisis had on your company?

Ms Li：
Impacted by global financial crisis, our company is confronted with many challenges, which brings huge operation risk to our company. Firstly, Global financial crisis brought severe impact to overseas and financial business; secondly, being influenced by the crisis, financial control became very difficult and part of project owners’ payment capacity was severely damaged, and this might led to rise of breach rate and fall of project accounts recollection speed. Meanwhile, due to unstable prices of raw material, it increased difficulties of project management, and posed more challenges.

At the same time, adjustment of national policies brings series of opportunities to construction enterprises. Firstly, expansion of traditional market. After breakout of the financial crisis, China launched favourable policies to people’s livelihood, such as “comprehensively use of tax cuts, expand central government investment so as to protect people's livelihood and boost domestic demand; change development model and increase structural adjustment support," ; "4 trillion economic stimulus package", to expand the infrastructure investment to stimulate domestic demand. As construction group, we could utilize this precious opportunity to further explore our market, expand producing scale and enhance sound and solid development of our company. Secondly, It is advantageous for us to improve investment environment and lower costs. The Central Bank lowered the deposit reserve ratio continuously, it is favourable for raising our credit line, improving financing environment of China Railway, which will relieve current financing difficulties. And meanwhile, it also lowers corporate financial cost to some point. Thirdly, prices of major construction materials, iron in particular, continued to fall, which undoubtedly lowers project cost.

Reporter：
What have been the most important factors in your career development? (For example, professional development and learning opportunities, further study, mentoring)

Ms Li：
In my opinion, the most important factor in career development is accumulation of knowledge and improvement of skills. Knowledge is the basement of career development, the support of capacity system. It is with no doubt that incompetence stems from ignorance. Structure of knowledge system must be scientific and reasonable. It doesn’t mean that the more knowledge the better. Knowledge needs updating and changing. In order to construct logical knowledge structure, one should first master comprehensive knowledge, not only science, but also culture and management, and what's more, one needs to concern about latest changes of economy both domestic and abroad. One needs to enrich himself constantly, participate in trainings to enlarge knowledge scope. Also, one needs to take part in social practises, to accumulate perceptual and practical experiences. Because without perceptual knowledge, it is impossible for one to master book learning, or make utilization of what have learnt to practice. In recent years, I constantly attended trainings and MBA courses co-organised by State Asset Regulatory Commission and HEC Paris, also I participated learning classes organised by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, all of which offered beneficial knowledge to me.

Reporter：
What does it mean for you to be a member of a professional association?

Ms Li：
It is my hornor to join NIA, which possesses great meaning to my company, my working team and me myself. NIA provides an excellent platform to me. Firstly, I can learn a lot of practical knowledge through this platform, because I can get access to leading edge financial knowledge, which is a beneficial supplementto what I have mastered. Secondly, this platform shortens distance among professionals, it provides opportunity for members to get to know each other and communicate. Through comparison and learning among professionals of the same field, we can further expand horizons, and learn specific advanced work experience. Thirdly, NIA promotes self improvement, which can no doubt drive the improvement of accounting working level and quality of the whole team. NIA’s CPE trainings can drive me to improve my capacity and working level. Through personal study, I can also bring beneficial knowledge and practise back to my company, which will be a great help to the corporate development.