SOE execs paid less though covert perks remain

A clerk counts Chinese 100-yuan banknotes at a branch of China Construction Bank in Nantong, Jiangsu province, Dec 2, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Annual reports from China's listed state-owned firms show their top executives were generally paid less last year as reform of China's bloated state sector targets executive income.

A plan to trim salaries paid to executives at firms managed by the central government entered effect at the beginning this year, aiming to close the yawning wealth gap between top management and ordinary employees and tackle the problem of opaque managers' bonuses.

Li Zhong, spokesperson with China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said last month that the details of the salary-cutting plan have been worked out.

Li added that the pay curbs only apply to firm's bosses and that ordinary employees' income won't be affected.

Annual reports from listed state firms have showed cuts in executive salaries of up to 50 percent last year. However, these companies still provide scant details of executives' "corporate-related expenditure", a bracket including perks and benefits for top executives and which thus can be included in their remuneration package.

A recent inspection tour by the disciplinary watchdog of the Communist Party of China found excessive corporate-related expenditure at state-owned behemoths including oil refiner Sinopec, mining and energy company Shenhua Group, telecom operator China Unicom and China Southern Airlines.

Sinopec responded by saying it will start to evaluate senior executives against their performance. China Unicom said it will tilt its payment distribution toward grassroots workers.