Senior Officers Offer Salary Reduction amid Financial Crisis

The Harbin-based Bright Oceans Corporation, a computer-related soft and hard ware developer, which is listed in Shanghai Stock Exchange, announced Monday that its eight senior board members volunteered for a 20 percent cut in salary, in a move to battle the ongoing global financial downturn, Beijing Business Today reports.

The move is seen as part of a series of latest chain reations following similar salary cut reports coming from some of Chinese big name companies, including China Southern Airlines, Bao Steel Group and the State Grid.

According to the media, Chang Xuequn, board director of Bright Oceans, will receive a downed monthly salary of 28,000 yuan instead of the previous 35,000 yuan, while the corporation's president Ren Zhijun, will have his monthly salary reduced by 10,000 yuan to 40,000 yuan.

In response to the move, Zhang Xiaohong, chairman of Bright Oceans' supervision board, also offered a 20 percent salary drop.

Bright Oceans registered a revenue of 573 million yuan in the first three quarters of this year, marking an over 9 percent decrease from the same period last year.

Liu Yang, an analyst with China Securities Co. Ltd. said the move complies with the international trend. Senior corporate officers such as General Electric usually choose salary reductions in time of financial crisis.

Also, it will work to add confidence to investors, Liu added.

At present, senior officers of many medium and small listed companies are also considering the same measure.

However, Liu pointed out that most controversial high-salaried senior officers come mainly from the banking and real-estate sectors. The annual salaries of three major senior officers of Ping'an Insurance of China, for instance, were all over 40 million yuan each last year, among whom, Ma Mingzhe, board director of the company, stood unbelievably over 60 million yuan last year.

Source: American Shipper