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Survey: 23% of China firms to freeze executives' salaries

By Bi Xiaoning (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-04 14:24

A report by the human resources consulting firm Mercer shows that 23 percent of companies surveyed in China said their senior executives' compensation in 2009 wouldn't increase as usual, showing the effects of the global financial slowdown.

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The survey involved 59 companies in China, 76 percent of which were listed companies and 39 percent of which were multinationals. Mercer conducted similar surveys in other Asian countries, including India, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.

"In Asia, one third of companies surveyed said their senior executives' salaries wouldn't increase in 2009. The proportion in China is a little smaller than the average, reflecting China experiencing less impact of the financial crisis than other Asian countries," said Zheng Wei, managing director for Asia executive remuneration business with Mercer.

"Considering the deferred impact on China's market, we predicted that more companies in China will take similar measures to limit the senior executives' salaries in 2009," Zheng added.