CPA Australia’s research reveals that the rapid adoption of AI is changing talent demands in mainland China’s accounting and finance sectors.
According to the 2025 Business Technology Survey, technologies such as AI, data analysis and visualization tools, and cybersecurity software are now most used by businesses in mainland China.
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Chartered Accountants Australia said the rapid development of AI is changing the skill set required of accounting and finance professionals, and organizations are also focused on achieving higher return on investment (ROI) from their AI initiatives.
In the past 12 months, 92% of companies surveyed reported using AI tools such as DeepSeek (72% the previous year).
In the latest results, 21% of respondents said their organizations are widely deploying AI through a combination of third-party software, custom tools, and in-house development.
This is up from 9% a year ago and is the highest percentage of all nine Asia Pacific markets surveyed.
Thirty percent of companies across multiple sectors primarily used third-party AI software, while 40% occasionally used free or standard AI solutions.
Looking ahead, 65% of participants expect their organization to further increase its use of AI over the next 12 months, an increase of 17 points from last year.
The survey found that 32% of respondents feel that hiring for entry-level accounting and finance jobs has decreased in the last year as more routine work is performed by AI.
At the same time, 18% of organizations are focusing on hiring staff with AI-related skills in finance and accounting.
Data for this study was collected from July to September 2025 from 1,117 accounting and finance professionals working in a variety of industries across nine markets in Asia Pacific.
There were 244 responses from mainland China.
Despite positive feedback on technology that improves efficiency, around two-fifths are still concerned about low return on investment.
These concerns are particularly pronounced among small and medium-sized enterprises, which often have constraints related to resources and technical knowledge.
In mainland China, 74% report using cybersecurity software regularly in the past year.
Of those surveyed, 35% said they fully integrated cybersecurity into their organization’s strategy and operations, which is higher than the overall survey average of 28%.
CPA Australia East and China Committee Chair Colin Jin said: “The survey results show that the use of AI in businesses has accelerated significantly across the Asia-Pacific region over the past two years, and AI is set to become even more popular.”
“In mainland China, companies are becoming more sophisticated in integrating technologies such as AI into their business models and applying it to a wide range of scenarios to drive innovation.”
