Web Exclusive

Minsheng Banking tops execs' pay list

By Nie Peng (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-05-04 13:58

China Minsheng Banking Corp, the mainland's first privately owned lender, paid 70.4 million yuan ($10.3 million) in salaries to its senior executives in 2009, the highest amount among all 14 listed Chinese banks, the Beijing-based Investor Journal reported Tuesday.

Minsheng's Hong Qi was also the highest paid governor last year, with a salary of 6.27 million yuan, according to the report.

Dong Wenbiao, chairman of the bank, was paid 6.55 million yuan in 2009, second only to Frank Newman, chairman of Shenzhen Development Bank, who sparked a heated debate in the country taking a sky-high salary of 17.4 million yuan.

The Beijing-based bank's net profit surged 53 percent year-on-year to 12 billion yuan in 2009. Its revenue rose 20 percent year-on-year to 42 billion yuan.

In contrast, senior executives of State-owned banks got far lower salaries last year, due to government restrictions on salaries of senior executives, which took effect in February 2009, the report said.

The highest annual pay went to Jiang Jianqing, chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, but it still shrank by 43 percent to 911,000 yuan from 1.6 million yuan in 2008. China Construction Bank's Zhang Jianguo was the highest paid governor among the State-owned banks last year, with his salary of 882,000 yuan.