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China has given a high priority to education. Yet, as far as accounting is concerned, education does not meet the increasing demand for accounting personnel in either quantity or quality. Against this background, this paper investigates student perceptions of good accounting teaching and considers whether or not good teaching is good irrespective of the subject discipline. A repertory grid technique was used to collect data in 1996 from undergraduate students in three universities in Beijing. The most important characteristics of good teaching that were found are being knowledgeable, the adoption of effective teaching approaches, being responsible and conscientious, making teaching interesting, an ability to encourage and facilitate independent thinking, and an ability to provide moral and behavioural guidance. The characteristics of good teaching appeared to be the same for accounting and non-accounting subjects. Some of these characteristics are consistent with the educational traditions of China, while others reflect upon recent changes in the country. The study also reveals characteristics peculiar to China. These and other findings may be useful for Chinese universities in developing teaching training courses and in designing teaching assessment instruments and faculty recruitment policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]