Lately, the Ministry of Finance ("MOF") and the China National Intellectual Property Administration ("CNIPA") have jointly distributed the Provisions on the Disclosure of Accounting Information on Intellectual Property (the "Provisions"), with effect from January 1, 2019.
The Provisions state that, an enterprise shall disclose, by category of intellectual property, the accounting information about intellectual property recognized as intangible assets. For an intangible asset with limited service life, an enterprise is required to disclose information about its estimated service life and the method on how to amortize costs of such intangible asset. However, if the service life of an intangible asset is uncertain, the enterprise shall disclose its book value and the basis to assert its uncertain service life. Moreover, the Provisions expressly state that, an enterprise shall, in line with provisions of the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises No.28 – Changes in Accounting Policies and Estimates and Correction of Errors, disclose the figures that will influence "changes in the amortization period of an intangible asset, the method of amortizing costs, and its residual value", "causes of such changes", and "the current period and future periods". Furthermore, the Provisions propose that, an enterprise may publicly reveal relevant information about intellectual property that is specified in the Provisions, on a voluntary basis, according to actual situations.