“Inventory” of listed bank employees’ expenses: CITIC leads with an average of 600k per capita, with the top three executive compensation packages coming from Ping An and China Minsheng Bank

What is the business model behind AI · the leading expense of employees in joint-stock banks?

Interface News Reporter | He Liuying

Interface News Editor | Wang Shu

By 2025, what level will the employee expenses of various banks reach?

Interface News reporter analyzed data from 15 A-share listed banks (state-owned banks + joint-stock banks) and found that over the past year, executive compensation and employee expenses have fluctuated, with some banks seeing an increase of over 4% in average employee expenses, while others experienced a decrease of up to 10%, indicating a firm commitment to cost reduction.

Additionally, many banks continue to implement “reverse wage disputes,” targeting not only ordinary employees but also senior executives, with China Bank (601988.SH, 03988.HK) having a cumulative “wage dispute” amount reaching hundreds of millions over three years.

Under industry pressure, cost reduction and efficiency enhancement are still the focus. Tian Lihui, Dean of the Financial Development Research Institute at Nankai University, told Interface News that banks will “cut costs” in compensation expenses, but not through a blanket approach of across-the-board cuts, rather through highly structured adjustments. From the industry background, in 2025, the banking sector faces operating pressures such as narrowing interest rate spreads and intensified competition. Most banks seek a balance between “cost reduction and efficiency” and “talent retention.” In this context, “cost reduction” does not simply mean reducing total expenses but involves deep restructuring of compensation structures, summarized as “controlling executives, adjusting structure, emphasizing efficiency.”

“In terms of ‘controlling executives,’ influenced by regulatory policies on compensation guidelines, bank executive pay will face stricter restrictions and deferred payment requirements. Regarding ‘adjusting structure,’ banks’ compensation resources will tilt toward front-office businesses and frontline marketing roles to incentivize ‘revenue-generating’ units. For ‘emphasizing efficiency,’ with the development of financial technology, some back-office support roles may be replaced, while employees with core technical skills or strong customer resources could see their market value further increase. Therefore, the future trend is a more rational overall compensation structure, with ‘differentiation by person and position’ becoming the norm,” Tian Lihui told Interface News.

CITIC Bank’s employee expenses per person continue to show advantages among joint-stock banks, reaching 600k yuan

Interface News calculated employee expenses (based on annual report data, typically including wages, bonuses, allowances, subsidies, set aside plans, housing provident funds, etc.) divided by the number of employees (using the average of year-end and beginning-of-year figures), compiling data from 15 A-share listed banks.

Employee expense situation of listed banks Data source: Bank annual reports, Wind Data compilation: He Liuying

Year-over-year comparison shows that among the 15 banks, four banks saw a decrease in average employee expenses, with Everbright Bank (601818.SH, 06818.HK) dropping 10% YoY, with total employee expenses also falling sharply from 600k yuan in 2024 to 22.26B yuan. Zheshang Bank (601916.SH, 02016.HK) decreased by 9%, but still maintained an average of 500k yuan.

Most other banks saw an increase within 3%, with two banks exceeding 4% growth: Huaxia Bank (600015.SH) and Agricultural Bank (601288.SH, 01288.HK). Notably, in 2025, Huaxia Bank’s total employee expenses declined mainly due to a reduction in staff numbers, which led to an increase in average expenses; Agricultural Bank, on the other hand, saw a significant 5.55% rise in total employee expenses.

In absolute terms, CITIC Bank (601998.SH, 09988.HK) continued to lead with an average employee expense of 600k yuan in 2025. China Merchants Bank (600036.SH, 03968.HK), Industrial Bank (601166.SH), Zheshang Bank, and Minsheng Bank (600016.SH, 01988.HK) followed closely, with average employee expenses exceeding 500k yuan throughout the year, further highlighting the advantages of joint-stock banks.

For state-owned banks, Bank of Communications (601328.SH, 03328.HK) is more competitive, with an average employee expense of 454.8k yuan in 2025, the only state-owned bank with average expenses exceeding 400k yuan. Others include Agricultural Bank, Bank of China, China Construction Bank (601939.SH, 00939.HK), Industrial and Commercial Bank (601398.SH, 01398.HK), and Postal Savings Bank (601658.SH, 01658.HK), all around 300k yuan.

Tian Lihui told Interface News that the advantages of joint-stock banks result from their business models and talent strategies working together. “From industry data, listed joint-stock banks and city commercial banks have the highest per capita salary expenses in the banking industry, and their competitiveness stems from three aspects. First, a higher degree of marketization; joint-stock banks have more flexible personnel mechanisms, and to attract and retain high-value core talents, they must offer competitive salary expenses as a foundation.”

“Second, there are differences in per capita efficiency. Employees and branches of joint-stock banks are relatively concentrated, mostly located in major domestic cities. These high-value-added businesses rely on elite teams, whose per capita profit levels are generally higher than industry averages, providing financial support for higher salaries. Lastly, business structure advantages: compared to state-owned banks that rely on interest spreads, joint-stock banks have a higher proportion of non-interest income, with profit structures more dependent on investment banking, wealth management, and other light-capital businesses. These businesses have higher income conversion rates and can offer more flexible compensation packages,” Tian Lihui added.

Executive compensation varies, China Bank’s 3-year “reverse wage dispute” exceeds 20.1B yuan

Regarding executive compensation, joint-stock banks also rank among the industry leaders.

Wind data shows that most directors earning over 2 million yuan are concentrated in Ping An Bank (000001.SZ), Minsheng Bank, China Merchants Bank, and CITIC Bank.

Advantages of joint-stock bank executives’ compensation are evident. Image source: Wind

Among them, Ping An Bank President Ji Guangheng, although his salary decreased by 150k yuan compared to the previous year, still ranks among the top with a 4 million yuan salary.

In the “million-yuan” salary group, there are also Minsheng Bank Chairman Gao Yingxin, with 500k yuan; Minsheng Bank Vice Chairman and President Wang Xiaoyong, with 3.2108 million yuan; Minsheng Bank Vice President Zhang Juntao, with 2.9889 million yuan; China Merchants Bank President Wang Liang, with 2.9705 million yuan; and Yupei Bank President and Executive Director Lu Wei, who took office from February 13, 2026, and received 2.2696 million yuan in 2025 at CITIC Bank. Additionally, Qingdao Bank (002948.SZ, 03866.HK) Chairman Jing Zailun also earned around 2 million yuan, with 2.1185 million yuan.

In comparison, the salaries of directors and chairmen of large state-owned banks are generally below 1 million yuan, mostly around 900k yuan.

Compared year-over-year, many banks’ executive compensations have fluctuated. Notably, many banks mention that related executive compensation still awaits disclosure. For example, China Merchants Bank stated that the total pre-tax salary of all full-time directors and senior management is still under confirmation, and will be disclosed after verification.

Meanwhile, the “reverse wage dispute” phenomenon remains active. According to China Bank’s annual report, in 2025, the bank recovered funds from 4,630 individuals, totaling 600k yuan. This is not the first time China Bank has engaged in “reverse wage disputes”: in 2024, the bank recovered from 2,469 individuals, totaling 32.5 million yuan; in 2023, from 2,059 individuals, totaling 22.75 million yuan. Over three years, China Bank has recovered over 100 million yuan.

China Bank stated that it has established a performance-based salary recovery system, whereby if internal responsibilities lead to extraordinary risk losses during employment, the bank can partially or fully recover the performance-based pay already distributed within the relevant period, and suspend future payments. The bank strictly implements performance salary recovery in accordance with regulatory requirements and relevant policies each year.

Executives are not exempt. In February this year, China Construction Bank announced that it approved a report on the 2025 performance salary recovery, involving 17 management personnel and equivalent-level staff, with a total recovery of 1.99 million yuan.

Tian Lihui told Interface News that “reverse wage disputes” have evolved from occasional events into a routine risk control measure within the banking industry, with considerable prevalence. The essence of this system is the implementation of the “risk-based compensation” concept, which aims to break the incentive distortion of “profit for oneself, losses borne by the public” in the financial industry.

“In the past, bank employees shared high bonuses during business expansion, but risk exposure lagged behind. When bad debts occurred, the bank bore the responsibility. The performance salary recovery system is designed to align risk costs with individual incentives over time, ensuring accountability. Its widespread adoption is a key step in shifting risk management from ‘pre-emptive constraints’ to a closed-loop of ‘post-incident accountability,’ helping to curb excessive risk-taking and maintain the long-term stability of financial institutions,” Tian Lihui explained to Interface News.