Right before Chinese New Year in 2025, I had dinner with a friend who works at a bank. They told me that things will be even tougher this year. Reportedly, 27 banks—including China’s four major state-owned banks—are implementing across-the-board pay cuts. The new salary system eliminates all earnings above a set base salary, and performance pay, quarterly bonuses, annual bonuses, and project incentives are being completely scrapped. For many positions, just the base salary portion is being reduced by up to 60%. Since bonuses usually make up the majority of total earnings in the financial sector, this means most employees will see their income plummet. I asked why this was happening, and my friend explained that even with loan interest rates dropping below 3%, banks are still struggling to issue loans. Without loans, there’s no way to make money.Join this channel to get access to perks:
