By Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin 2025.06.17
Chinese civil servants and state-owned enterprise employees see significant salary cuts and layoffs.Chinese workers across industries are facing salary cuts and layoffs as mounting economic woes engulf China’s public and private sectors, sources tell Radio Free Asia.
That’s forcing families to slash spending. It is also triggering deflationary concerns as businesses enter into desperate price wars.
From Beijing’s central government offices to provincial agencies across China, as well as major state-owned enterprises like investment bank China International Capital Corp (CICC), employees have faced substantial pay reductions that have reduced household budgets and fundamentally altered consumer spending patterns.
“I used to earn 6,000 yuan (or US$835) a month but now I only get 5,000 yuan (US$696), and some allowances have been removed too,” Li, an employee at a Beijing-based state-owned enterprise, told RFA. Like many others interviewed for this story, Li wanted to be identified by a single name for safety reasons.
“Some people in my wife’s company have also had their salaries cut and some have received layoff notices, saying they will only work until July-end,” said Li.
In Zhejiang, regarded one of China’s most prosperous provinces, ordinary civil servants have had their annual salaries slashed by 50,000 to 60,000 yuan (or US$6,964-US$8,356) this year, Zheng, a resident of the province’s Zhuji city, told RFA.
Civil servants in more senior positions have seen deeper reductions to their annual pay of around 80,000 to 100,000 yuan (or US$11100-US$13900) and others in still higher levels by about 150,000 yuan (or US$20,890), Zheng said.
“There was already a reduction two years ago. This year’s salary is reduced again,” he added.
More:
https://www.rfa.org/english/china/2025/06/17/china-economy-deflation-wage-cuts-layoffs/
