The Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Association (APMAA) 2012 Annual Conference ----Management Accounting: The Optimization of Management Control which sponsored by the APMAA was held in Center for Arts and Science of Xiamen University. The Conference was co-hosted by the Center for Accounting Studies, Institute for Financial and Accounting Studies and Accounting Department of Xiamen University. More than 100 papers submitted to the conference, subject to the review, 73 papers were finally accepted by presentations, 30 of them were presented by foreign scholars. This conference attracted 105 specialists and scholars from 15 countries including USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, Nigeria, Sweden, Qatar, UAE, China Taiwan, China Hong Kong and Mainland of China. Professor Yuanlue Fu, Deputy director, the Center for Accounting Studies of Xiamen University hosted the opening ceremony. On behalf of Xiamen University, Professor Jianfa Li, Vice President and the Deputy Party Secretary of Xiamen University, expressed his congratulations on the opening of this conference. Prof. Yifeng Shen, Dean, the School of Management of Xiamen University. Prof. Xiaohui Qu, Dean, the Institute for Financial and Accounting Studies delivered the welcome speech respectively. On behalf of APMAA, Prof. Susumu Ueno of Konan University in Japan, Director of APMAA, expressed his thanks to Xiamen University for hosting this conference successfully, and expressed his congratulations on the opening of this conference. This conference invited seven well-known scholars both at home and abroad to deliver the keynote speech. Professor Michael Bromwich from London School of Economics and Political Science delivered the keynote speech “Management Accounting: Review and Prospect”, he described the history of management accounting since 1919, and the current situation and challenges faced by the management accounting research. He also introduced the possible changes in management accounting research based on the financial crisis, the rapid globalization and the development of information technology. Professor Thomas Hemmer of Rice University delivered the keynote speech “The Optimization of Relative Performance Evaluation”, he discussed the linear model of relative performance evaluation, and suggested that the previous model in the new environment is  not always effective. For example, the previous model cannot interpret “risk”. Finally, he suggested to construct a new optimal model, and explored the research opportunities in the future. Professor Jason Zezhong Xiao of Cardiff University delivered the keynote speech “The Complementarities between Management Accounting and Information Technology”. He discussed the effect of information communication technology and the control system of management accounting on the firms’ performance. Professor Zhijun Lin from Hong Kong Baptist University delivered the keynote speech “The Performance of Balanced Score Card----Evidence from Chinese Public Hospital”, he suggested that balanced score card would be applied to the profit and non-profit organizations, but it should be improved in its application. Professor Yuanlue Fu from Xiamen University, delivered the keynote speech “Research on the design and optimization of management control mechanism”, he suggested to change the management control mechanism, and discussed the main theory about the design of management control mechanism. Professor Yuanlue Fu also suggested to construct the innovation model of management control mechanism which including strategic planning and implementation. Professor Yuming Hu from Jinan University, delivered the keynote speech “Management Accounting Research in China----Past, Present and Prospect in the Future”. He introduced the significant gains that China has made in Management Accounting during the past years and the current prospects for development. Professor Yuming Hu expected that the management accounting research in the future would switch from imitation and tracking study to original study. Mr Liqun Cai, manager of Xiamen Port Development Co., Ltd., delivered the keynote speech “The Design and Practice of Management Control System——A Case Study Based on the Xiamen Port Development Co., Ltd.”. He introduced the design ideas and the implementation effect of management control system in Xiamen Port Development Co., Ltd. This case study would provide useful experience in the application of management accounting for the participants. The conference also invited Professor Xiaohui Qu of Xiamen University, Professor Yang Tzong Tsay of Taiwan University, Professor Susumu Uneno of Konan University, Professor Paul Scarbrough of Brock University in Canada and Professor Normah Omar of Universiti Teknologi MARA – UiTM in Malaysia to host the keynote respectively. The discussion on the content of keynote speech reflect the close cooperation and communications among scholars both at home and abroad. The conference enjoyed a warm and solemn atmosphere. This conference is divided into 4 topics (including 48 papers), and discussed the topics of management control system, performance evaluation and management, and etc. This is the eighth international conference of APMAA. Making a comprehensive communication about the optimization of management control and the problem of management accounting, this conference facilitate the exchanges between Xiamen University and the scholars both at home and abroad, and increase the influence of accounting discipline in Xiamen University on the promotion about the theoretical research of Asia-Pacific management accounting. This conference also provide an indispensable exchange platform for the research and application of management accounting in China.