(Yicai Global) May 15 -- Total staff remuneration at China’s 42 listed banks was about CNY993.4 billion (USD142.9 billion) last year, up 5.8 percent from the previous year, Yicai Global calculated based on their financial reports and figures provided by financial data provider Wind. But the growth rate was slower than in 2021.

By the end of 2022, the number of employees at China’s listed banks tallied about 2.55 million. Among the large state-owned lenders, Agricultural Bank of China as well as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China had over 400,000 staff each, with the headcounts for China Construction Bank and Bank of China reaching more than 350,000 and 300,000, respectively.

The ranks of employees at Postal Savings Bank of China and Bank of Communications was roughly 180,000 and 90,000, respectively. China Merchants Bank was the only joint-stock lender with more than 100,000 staff.

The per-capita salary at these banks ranged between CNY300,000 and CNY400,000 (USD43,150 and 57,540). There were 12 lenders with annual pay per head of about CNY400,000 and 18 banks with around CNY300,000.

China Citic Bank ranked top with a per-capita remuneration of CNY624,500 (USD89,817) and 10 listed lenders, including Bank of Nanjing, Bank of Jiangsu and China Merchants Bank, all paid more than CNY500,000.

Despite much operating pressure in the Chinese banking sector last year, 20 listed lenders still achieved varying degrees of per-capita income growth.

Nine listed banks saw annual salaries per head surge more than 5 percent, with Bank of Chengdu posting the biggest gain, a 11.7 percent rise to CNY436,300 from CNY390,600 in 2021.

Editors: Shi Yi, Peter Thomas