Effects of Applying the New ASBE 21 Leases on the Financial Statements : Evidence from China

The Ministry of Finance of China has proposed a new lease accounting model to the existing lease accounting standard that requires the capitalization of all operating leases as assets and liabilities. In this case study, the key effects of the application of a new accounting standard — Accounting Standard for Business Enterprises 21 (ASBE 21), on financial statements and financial ratios of listed companies in the Chinese air transport industry have been analyzed and investigated. Significant relative differences were found within the airline industry in China. Results indicated that the total assets and liabilities would increase due to the capitalization of operating leases, whereas the profitability of firms was expected to decrease. Furthermore, the coverage of firms would decline, but the leverage of these firms would be improved. Rather than China, prior studies have analyzed the firms in other countries, where different accounting principles are applied. Hence, this study can provide useful information for the investors, as well as other stakeholders that are interested in Chinese airline corporations, and help to complete the studies about different lease accounting standards applied in different countries