April 19, 2013
Translated by Chi Yi

Total profits from 208 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in 2012 exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan. Meanwhile, salaries paid to their employees topped 5.1 trillion yuan, far exceeding profits.

Data from Hexin Flush Information (同花顺) showed that the centrally administered SOEs that are supervised by China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) have control over 264 listed companies, 208 of which released annual reports for 2012.   

The average annual income of the 3.86 million employees of these companies surpassed 130,000 yuan. This number includes salary, bonuses, social insurance and other benefits. The National Bureau of Statistics hasn’t yet released average income data for the whole of China in 2012, but the Shanghai Bureau of Statistics reported the average annual income of employees in the city last year was 56,300 yuan. Shanghai is China’s wealthiest city.

China Shipping Container Lines Co., Ltd. (中海集运) and China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd. (中工国际) had the highest annual average incomes at over 400,000 yuan each. China National Petroleum Corporation and Sinopec ranked 21st and 46th respectively. 

Many workers feel the average doesn’t reflect the reality of their incomes. There are 114 SOEs with average annual incomes below 100,000 yuan. Most of these are located in underdeveloped areas of China. There are also large gaps between different industries. Jiangsu Gaochun Ceramics Co., Ltd. (高淳陶瓷), for example, had the lowest average annual income for its employees at 35,400 yuan.

Links and Sources: 
QQ Finance - 208家上市央企职工薪酬5143亿 净利3342亿