Review on Research of the Balance Sheet of Natural Resources in China Based on the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting

Since the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to explore the preparation of the Balance Sheet of Natural Resources (BSNR), a lot of theoretical research and reporting practice have been carried out. Based on the conceptual framework for financial reporting, this paper reveals the changes in the research fields and contents of the BSNR, and comprehensively combs the research on the concept of the BSNR, the reporting subject, the confirmation and measurement of the reporting elements, and the reporting format. We find that the existing researches have some insufficiency in the positioning of the BSNR, the reporting body, the recognition conditions and measurement methods of the reporting elements, information disclosure, etc. The research basis and research path of different scholars differ considerably, and there is still a distance from forming a consensus. Based on the existing research situation and the practical needs of national governance of natural resources, it is proposed that, on the premise of clearly defining the reporting subject and objectives, independent research should be carried out from the two paths of statistics and accounting, and confirmation, measurement and disclosure of statement elements should be explored in-depth under different paths.