Making salary reform a success

China has decided to impose a cap on top executives' salaries in the State sector as part of its reform drive against the controversial group. Although it has not been decided how steep the cuts would be, it is certain that the actions and incomes of the fat cats would be more closely scrutinized.

The move is welcome, but to ensure its success the government has to establish a transparency mechanism so that the public can supervise the incomes of the top executives.

Some senior State sector managers' salaries can be more than 5 million yuan ($810,000) a year while the annual disposable income of an ordinary Chinese urbanite was only 27,000 yuan in 2013, according to documents released by listed State-owned enterprises. Given this huge income gap and the public complaints that have been pouring in, the central authorities have no choice but to impose a cap on the salaries of top State sector executives.