This interview is part of a series spotlighting AGRC’s global training partners and exploring how they are advancing professional education, thought leadership, and GRC practice in markets around the world.

Could you introduce your organisation and tell us about your experience in delivering professional training to governance, risk, and compliance practitioners in China?

We have been engaged in financial training in China for more than 20 years. At first, we only did some financial training, but in 2019 we began to engage in forensic accounting, such as anti-money laundering and fraud auditing.

As a partner of AGRC in China, we are focused on one thing: turning the standard framework of global GRC into an ability that financial practitioners in China can really use. The regulatory environment in China is changing rapidly, and compliance practitioners must keep up. 

The training we provide is not based on the international norms but designed according to the current regulatory trends in China, such as anti-money laundering, data compliance, and ESG. The regulatory framework is frequently updated, and the most important thing for practitioners is how to apply it to practical work.

What is distinctive about China’s GRC landscape, and which aspects of the local market are most important for an international audience to understand?

One unique feature of China’s GRC landscape is the close connection between regulation and government policy. In China, supervisory bodies guide towards broader policy priorities and on what direction financial institutions should be moving in.

To give a concrete example, two years ago, the central bank launched a ‘card-breaking operation’ to crack down on telecom fraud, requiring banks to strictly examine abnormal account opening. This is also reflected in the international anti-money laundering framework, but the strength and speed of China’s implementation are beyond the expectations of many foreign financial institutions. 

I contacted the compliance officer of a foreign-funded bank, whose headquarters thought at first that it was ‘just to strengthen KYC’. As a result, the bank’s China operations were interviewed by the regulator several times because it failed to keep up with the account opening review. The experience later helped them realise that in China, direct supervisory guidance is sometimes more important than the written laws and regulations. 

Therefore, if international counterparts only focus on China’s legal provisions, they will not have an accurate and complete picture of the reality. You must understand what the regulators are concerned about and what their priorities are.

What are the most pressing skills and knowledge gaps among GRC professionals in China, and how are the expectations placed on practitioners changing?

In my opinion, the most obvious gap is the combination of digital ability and risk judgment. If the current compliance practitioners only understand the provisions and do not look at the data, it will be difficult to cope with new scenarios, such as intelligent risk control and model risk management. Financial institutions pay more and more attention to people who can tell clear risk stories with data.

The other is the change of attitude towards compliance. In the past, the goal of risk control personnel was not to have an accident. Now the organisation hopes that you can help make a judgment. For example, in business development, if risk control just says no, its value is limited. Being able to explain clearly how to do it and where the boundaries are is a scarce ability for practitioners.

International standards must often be applied within specific legal, commercial and cultural contexts. How do you ensure that GRC training is both globally relevant and practical for professionals working in China?

Our approach is to keep the overall framework and integrate the actual cases in China, as well as the different requirements of laws and regulations. AGRC’s certification system is international, but when designing courses and cases, we focus on the actual situation of supervision in China. 

For example, when it comes to compliance, we will not only talk about FATF’s suggestions but also analyse the latest revision of China’s anti-money laundering law and the specific punishment cases imposed by the central bank on financial institutions. 

Another key is language, not simple translation. Some international concepts have specific expressions and boundaries in the context of China. What we need to do is to help practitioners not only understand international standards but also meet the regulatory requirements of China. We translated the AGRC exam questions into Chinese, invited local GRC experts in China, and listed some new exam questions relevant to the situation in China. AGRC’s certification programme currently offers Chinese and English exam options in China.

What attracted your organisation to becoming an AGRC training partner, and how can the collaboration strengthen the professional development opportunities available in the Chinese market?

AGRC is a London-based association with members in more than 100 countries around the world. Its specialty has been recognised by HMRC, with the professional endorsement of LIBF behind it. At the same time, AGRC is willing to work with local partners in China to explore a path suitable for practitioners in China. 

This cooperation enables us to introduce leading global GRC frameworks to China while sharing insights from Chinese market practice with the international community. In this way, practitioners in China become contributors as well as learners.

Looking ahead, what impact do you hope the partnership with AGRC will achieve, both for individual practitioners and for the development of the wider GRC profession in China?

For individuals, I hope that in the future compliance and risk professionals in China can present their AGRC certification at a job interview and recruiters will immediately recognise it as evidence of structured professional training, without needing to ask what it is.

For the industry, my ambition is to help GRC become recognised as a profession in China, with a clear career path. Many people working in compliance and risk management are highly skilled, yet public understanding of their role remains limited. Some see them as simply checking documents; others see them as the people who take the blame when things go wrong.

Through our cooperation with AGRC, we aim to establish a clearer professional identity for this community. A consistent training and certification framework can help define what makes a qualified GRC professional, the skills they need, and the career paths available to them.

Jiawen Wang is the Market Director of the Beijing Zhongsheng Cailing Education Technology Ltd, which is AGRC’s training partner in China. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Hebei University and has more than 10 years of strategic marketing management experience in the field of educational services. Jiawen excels in product marketing, communication, brand strategy, digital marketing and marketing activities. With keen market insight and excellent strategic development ability, he is committed to creating unique value for the AGRC brand, enhancing market competitiveness and realising the sustainable development of both the brand and business.