By the end of April 5, 1,343 listed companies of A-shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen disclosed their 2011 annual reports. The profits paid out to stockholders of parent companies reached 1.645 trillion yuan (US$260.75 billion), increasing 13.77 percent compared with 2010, according to the statistics of Wind Information Co., Ltd. Additionally, 1,302 companies paid out 311.1 billion yuan (US$49.3 billion) for workers’ salaries, seeing a 13.39 percent year-on-year growth.

These 1,302 listed companies had nearly 9.84 million employees at the end of last year, an increase of 586,400 people from 2010. However, 381 companies cut 182,484 employees since 2010.

The total number of employees in the textile and apparel industry is now 155,160, down 19,139 since 2010, a decrease of 10.98 percent. The decrease ranks No.1 among all industries. The household appliance industry cut 22,027 people, a drop of 7.34 percent.

The top three industries adding employees are food and beverage, real estate and commerce and trade. By the end of 2011, employees in these industries numbered 166,335, 139,789 and 261,266, respectively, with a growth rate of 16.41 percent, 16.23 percent and 15.37 percent.

In addition, the financial services industry added 122,254 new employees, featuring the largest number of the new employees, with a 5.8 percent growth rate.

? Also see: Top 10 job shedders in China 2011