Chartered financial analysts rapidly increase, new candidates to exceed US

New candidates for the level-I chartered financial analyst designation in China are forecast to exceed the number in the United States for the first time this year, according to Nick Pollard, managing director of the CFA Institute's Asia-Pacific region.

The number of level-I candidates for the CFA exam from China grew to 52,315 in December, ranking No 2 worldwide, just behind the United States.

Pollard said CFA charter holders in China had surpassed 3,300 in 2015, with a 5-year compounded average annual growth rate growth of 14 percent, compared with the global growth rate of 2 percent.