Wage gap rises ever higher at China's banks
Staff Reporter 2012-10-02 17:30
The high profits and high salaries on offer at Chinese banks have been brought into question as the country's economy begins to slow, with senior executives now earning as much as 80 times the salary of a general employee.
The total net profits of 16 Chinese listed banks was higher than the total profits of 2,473 listed domestic companies for the first half of the year, though the share price of the banks has dropped over the same period, reports the Chinese-language China Economic Times.
The annual salaries for the president and vice president of Ping An Bank were the highest in the country at 8.69 million yuan (US$1.4 million) and 5.79 million yuan (US$917,000) respectively.
The highest and lowest average monthly salary of executives at banks came to 33,500 yuan (US$5,300) for Agricultural Bank of China and 15,400 yuan (US$2,440) at Bank of Ningbo, respectively.
However, eight of the 16 banks which have reported that their stock price was lower than the net value, were also criticized by investors for making insufficient dividend payments.
The flawed management structure and limited power of stockholders to constrain the board and senior executives of banks have led to the unfair wage policy, said analysts, adding that the high salaries and bonuses enjoyed by senior executives should be linked to the operational risks of their banks.
