On June 10 and 11, 2023, the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) Department of Finance held an International Symposium on AI, Big Data, Accounting and Finance. This was held in cooperation with the University of Edinburgh Business School, and featured a special issue from the Journal of British Accounting Review (BAR). The central theme of the conference revolved around leveraging innovative computational methods to address traditional challenges in accounting and finance, as well as exploring whether these methods can be used to uncover valuable insights that can contribute towards overcoming these challenges.
On the morning of June 10th, the opening ceremony of the conference was chaired by Dr. Jia Zhai, Associate Professor of XJTLU's International Business School Suzhou. Dr. Lixian Qian, Associate Dean for Research, delivered the opening address, warmly welcoming the attending scholars and providing an introduction to the conference's theme and XJTLU's International Business School Suzhou. On the morning of June 11th, Prof. Hefei Wang from XJTLU's International Business School Suzhou delivered a brief opening speech. In the afternoon, Prof. Stephen Gong, Director of the Finance Department at XJTLU's International Business School Suzhou, delivered the closing remarks.
Dr. Jia Zhai
Dr. Lixian Qian
Prof. Hefei Wang
Prof. Stephen Gong
Among the conference’s esteemed guests and keynote speakers were Professor Lin Cong, finance editor of the journal "Management Science" and professor at Cornell University; Professor Wenxuan Hou, BAR co-editor and professor at the University of Edinburgh; and Professor Jason Xiao, BAR co-editor and professor at the University of Macau. Conference participants provided positive feedback on their experience at the event, with approximately 100 experts, scholars and researchers from renowned domestic and international universities participating in person, and another 40 joining online.
On the morning of June 10, Professor Wenxuan Hou delivered a 45-minute keynote speech on the topic of " Kinship and Fintech Development," providing a detailed introduction to the BAR journal. That afternoon, Professor Jason Xiao gave a speech on "ChatGPT and Audit Capability." On the morning of June 11, Prof. Lin Cong provided an online keynote speech on "Big Data in Finance and Economics" and engaged in a 45-minute "Talk to the Editors" session. During this session, he answered participants' questions about the developmental directions of big data within financial and accounting research, publication in journals, actively interacting with on-site attendees.
Prof. Lin Cong
Prof. Wenxuan Hou
Prof. Jason Xiao
The conference featured three parallel discussion forums, with a total of 12 academic staff from the IBSS Finance and Accounting departments serving as moderators. The conference received a significant number of submissions, with approximately 100 papers received. Among them, 42 papers were selected for presentation, discussion, and commentary. The authors delivered excellent presentations, and the reviewers provided insightful and constructive comments that were greatly beneficial to both the authors and the audience present.
After the conference, the guest editors of the journal plan to complete a further review of the papers submitted and select suitable papers for inclusion in the BAR journal's special issue.
The successful convening of the conference was made possible by the strong support of colleagues from XJTLU's Finance and Accounting departments. Special thanks go to symposium committee members Dr. Yingying Wu, Dr. Shimeng Shi, Dr. Ning Zhang, Kedi Yu, Ran Ma, and Wen Jing. With the strong support of everyone involved, the conference was a complete success.
