Summary of Key Points
In 2025, the compensation for executives of A-share listed companies exhibited the following trends: an overall recovery, industry reshuffling, and significant individual differences. The average annual salary of executives reached 1.674 million yuan, marking a reversal from previous declines. The mining sector surpassed the financial sector as the highest-paying industry. Li Ge, the chairman of WuXi AppTec, led the pack with an annual salary of nearly 40 million yuan, with 18 executives earning over 10 million yuan each. Some executives saw a raise of more than 4 million yuan, while others experienced almost zero salary increases. Equity incentives have become more commonplace, with multiple incentive plans becoming the norm, particularly in the manufacturing industry.
I. Overall Recovery in Executive Salaries: Companies Are Profitable, So They Can Afford to Raise Pay
The average annual salary for A-share executives in 2025 was 1.674 million yuan, a 2.27% increase from 2024. This is the first rise after two consecutive years of decline, and the reason is simple: the economy has improved, putting more money into companies' pockets. Experts from Rongzheng Group explain that as business conditions improve and profitability increases, companies have the ability to offer higher salaries to their executives. For example, if the economy was weak in previous years and companies were not making much profit, executive salaries would decrease; now that the economy is improving and profits are rising, executive compensation is also on the rise.
II. The Mining Sector Surpasses Finance as the Highest-Paying Industry
The mining sector outperformed the financial sector in 2025, with an average annual salary of 2.1336 million yuan, compared to 1.8679 million yuan in the financial industry. This indicates that the mining sector had particularly good profits this year, due to rising prices for resources such as coal and metals. Additionally, the scientific research and technology services sector rose from fourth to third place, with an average salary of 1.761 million yuan, showing that industries focused on research and technology are increasingly willing to offer high salaries to their executives.
III. Extreme Salary Cases: Some Earn Nearly 40 Million Yuan, While Others Receive Almost Nothing
The disparity in executive salaries was particularly evident in 2025:
- Highest Salary: Li Ge of WuXi AppTec received an annual salary of 39.98 million yuan, making him the highest-paid executive in the A-share market. Guan Linhua of *ST Xinchao and Ou Leiqiang of BeiGene also earned over 30 million yuan each.
- Most Significant Salary Increases: Sun Chengsi, the chairman of Baiwei Storage, saw his salary increase by more than 6 million yuan, from over 3 million yuan in 2024 to 9.87 million yuan. The chairmen of Suotong Development and Baili Tianheng also received raises of over 4 million yuan each.
- Most Significant Salary Cuts: Zhong Baoshen, the chairman of Longi Green Energy, saw his salary drop by 99% from 895,500 yuan in 2024 to 7,100 yuan; the chairmen of Zhenhua Technology and Xinjiang Tianye also experienced significant salary reductions. This may be due to declining company performance or executives voluntarily reducing their salaries to help the company through tough times.
IV. Equity Incentives Become the Norm: Companies Use Stocks to Retain Key Talent
There were two notable changes in A-share equity incentives in 2025:
1. Multiple Incentive Plans Become the Standard: Although the total number of equity incentive announcements decreased, the proportion of multiple-incentive plans increased from 61% to 72%. This means companies are no longer offering a one-time stock reward but distributing it over several periods, encouraging employees to stay with the company for a longer period (e.g., receiving a portion each year and waiting until they have worked there for several years to receive the full amount).
2. Increased Employee Stock Ownership: The number of employee stock ownership plan announcements increased by 18%, indicating that companies are more willing to share profits with their employees.
3. The Manufacturing Industry Leads the Way: The manufacturing industry had the highest number of equity incentive plans (473), especially in the electronic equipment manufacturing sector (120). This is because the manufacturing industry is undergoing transformation and needs core technical talents, and using stock incentives can help retain them—after all, giving stocks to employees makes them more invested in the company’s success.
V. Sectoral Differences in Salaries: The STAR Market Is Most Generous with High Salaries
When looking at different sectors, the STAR Market offered the highest salaries to executives, followed by the Shanghai and Shenzhen main boards, the ChiNext market, and the Beijing Stock Exchange. There are two reasons for this: first, many companies on the STAR Market are technology firms with a high demand for talent and are willing to offer higher salaries; second, main-board companies are larger and more profitable, resulting in higher executive salaries. Companies on the Beijing Stock Exchange are smaller, so their salaries are naturally lower.
Overall, the changes in A-share executive compensation in 2025 reflect trends such as an economic recovery, varying industry profits, and increased emphasis on talent by companies. Ordinary investors can use this information to understand which industries are performing well and which companies place more value on employee incentives, which can be helpful for market analysis.