Watch on SOE pay

President Xi Jinping urged State-owned enterprises on Monday to regulate senior executives' "unreasonable and excessively high incomes".

"Salary reform for the leadership of central SOEs has achieved positive results so far. But there are still issues such as an unreasonable salary structure and inadequate supervisory system," Xi said at a meeting on reform.

Salary levels and other spending on leaders of central SOEs will be regulated strictly according to national standards and financial rules, while any irregular position-related expenditure will be eliminated, Xi said.

Sun Lijian, deputy dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University in Shanghai, said position-related spending in SOEs has been a hotbed for corruption.

Such spending, including that on automobile purchases, may give some suppliers the chance to provide luxury products at very low prices, which is often related to bribery, Sun said.

He said that salary reform for SOE executives doesn't necessarily mean their pay will drop, but will bring more transparency.