CRI听力:SOE Salary Reform Part of Anti-graft Campaign

Salary re-assessments for executives of state-owned companies have been underway for over a decade, since the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration was established in 2003.

However, this is the first time China's top leader has brought the issue of salaries up publically.

President Xi Jinping has issued a statement this week, saying SOEs need to have more equitable salary levels, and unusually high executive salaries need to be regulated.

He is also calling on the executives affected to accept and support the plan.

Professor Xin Ming with the CPC Party School says the move is part of the government's broader plan to close the backdoor to corruption.

"We always talk about the high salaries of the executives. Actually, their bonuses are even higher. It is like a black hole. The amounts are huge. What's more, these kinds of incentives can be a hotbed for inappropriate behavior and unhealthy social values."

Average salaries for executives with large state-owned companies generally range between 650 to 750-thousand yuan per year, which is around 110-thousand US dollars a year.

This is about 10 times more than what the average person in Beijing earns per year.

And these figures do not even include the bonuses and other perks the executives are normally privy to.

Economic observer Ye Tan says the best way to eliminate corruption is to make the perks and bonuses executives get more transparent.

"We know that the executives of SOEs enjoy high salaries and bonuses. But the bonuses are not separated from the operational feels for running the companies. We need to change this. For the bonuses they deserve, we should give them. As for other perks, we need to eliminate them."

There are around 150-thousand state-owned enterprises currently operating here in China, either controlled by local governments or centrally-administered by the authorities in Beijing.

For CRI, I'm Min Rui.