(Yicai) May 10 -- The average gross pay of the chairpersons at 36 out of China’s 41 listed banks came to CNY1.2 million (USD166,093) each last year, according to the latest data.

The chairman of China Minsheng Bank, Gao Yingxin, was the highest paid, raking in CNY3.7 million (USD517,021) in 2023, according to financial data provider Wind. This was followed by Lu Huayu, chairman at Bank of Ningbo, with CNY2.7 million and Jing Zailun, chair at Bank of Qingdao, with CNY2.5 million.

At joint-stock lenders, the average pay for chairs in 2023 was CNY1.4 million (USD202,090),  although only five out of twelve of the joint-stock banks in the country disclose their chairs’ salaries.

At the 26 regional banks, the average wage of a board chairman was CNY1.2 million, and the chairs of banks in the west of the country were paid less than those in the east. The chairs of the country’s ‘Big Five’ state-owned banks were the lowest paid at an average of CNY860,000 (USD119,040) each.

Of the 41 listed lenders, only two of the chairs are female. They are Yao Zhiping, chairwoman of Xiamen Bank, who earned CNY1.5 million last year and Song Ping, who leads Jiangsu Jiangyin Rural Commercial Bank, and was paid CNY1.1 million.

Fifteen of the listed lenders changed chair in 2023. Thirteen of them stepped down on reaching retirement age. Since the beginning of this year, chairs at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of Chongqing have also retired.

The average age of a chairman at listed lenders is 55, according to Yicai research. Ten chairmen are close to or older than retirement age, which means they will be replaced soon.

The youngest is Song who is just 47, followed by 48-year old Xie Ning, who has just been appointed chairman of Bank of Nanjing. Seventeen chairs were born in the 1970s.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor