Annual compensation costs of the Shanghai-based Guotai Junan Securities Co, one of China's largest brokerages, plummeted 44 percent year on year to 800 million yuan (US$177 million) in 2008, a drastic cut of 2.4 billion yuan (US$351 million) from market expectations revealed in previous media reports.

Although the stock firm plans to hand out an additional 250 million yuan in deferred compensation to its employees after April 2009, the planned annual salary bill has dropped 30 percent compared with 2007, China Business News reported on February 9.

According to Wang Song, deputy Chief Executive Officer, a market forecast of the company's annual compensation bill which foresaw average pay per employee rising to 1 million yuan is far from the firm's reality.

The securities company has 3,554 registered staff members along with nearly 2,000 brokers and outsourced employees.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese:
http://www.china-cbn.com/s/n/000002/20090209/000000106683.shtml

(China.org.cn by Jenny Wu, Februaruy 10, 2009)