Financial firms and their regulators have cut salaries and bonuses after China's top graft-busting watchdog vowed to eliminate "Western-style hedonism" in the $57 trillion sector.
"Wage cuts will intensify deflationary risks and reduce willingness to spend," said Zhaopeng Xing, ANZ's senior China strategist.
Reuters GraphicsWEAK BARGAINING POWERUnilateral wage cuts are illegal in China, but complex salary structures offer ways around that.
Shao, who sold make-up in the eastern city of Suzhou and only gave her surname for privacy reasons, had a choice to leave her company or accept a 50% wage cut.
Their bargaining power ... is weakened so they tend to accept wage cuts," said Aidan Chau, researcher at Hong Kong-based rights group China Labour Bulletin.
Persons:
Yao, Zhaopeng Xing, ANZ's, Unit's Xu Tianchen, Zhaopin, Shao, Aidan Chau, Xu, he's, Xiangrong Yu, Ellen Zhang, Marius Zaharia, Liangping Gao, Kripa Jayaram, Kim Coghill
Organizations:
Communist Party, Financial, Economist, Reuters, Workers, China Labour Bulletin, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Citi, Graphics, Thomson
Locations:
China, BEIJING, HONG KONG, Hefei, Suzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing