Latest news with #salaryfreeze
South China Morning Post
21-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Can China pass on-the-ground tests to ace its economic report card in 2025's second half?
Having gone five years without a raise, and now facing increased odds of being laid off, a 36-year-old accountant in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu is among those feeling a disconnect between robust headline economic figures and the day-to-day reality. Advertisement Justin Li has been struggling to make ends meet since the onset of the pandemic. Since then, his monthly salary of 7,000 yuan (US$975) has not changed. And now, as his company undergoes a round of lay-offs, his dream of buying a home seems more distant than ever. 'With my current income, I don't dare take on a mortgage,' said Li, who relies on rental housing to provide a home for his wife, mother and one-year-old daughter. 'What if I lose my job one day? The job market is weak right now – there's too much unknown about the future.' Last week, when Beijing delivered its midyear economic report, a better-than-expected growth rate of 5.3 per cent in gross domestic product (GDP) showed how China's economy remained resilient in the face of various headwinds, including an unprecedented trade war with the United States. While it is widely believed that Beijing will not allow its 'around 5 per cent' GDP growth target to be missed for the full year, risks lurking beneath the rosy headline figures – from sluggish consumer confidence and persistent deflationary pressure to a protracted property slump and trade uncertainty – are fuelling concerns of a second-half slowdown and prompting growing calls for stronger policy support. Advertisement 'We need to distinguish between official economic data and how households and businesses actually feel,' said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. 'What people are feeling is a different world from the rosy data in the first half.'
South China Morning Post
11-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Salary freeze for Hong Kong's cash-strapped Urban Renewal Authority
Hong Kong's cash-strapped Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has frozen the salaries of its 700 staff for the second time in four years, following an earlier decision by the government to pause pay rises for civil servants. Advertisement The authority confirmed to the Post on Sunday that it had made the decision after reviewing employees salaries, a process it carried out annually. 'After careful consideration, the URA has decided to freeze the salary levels for the 2025-26 financial year, while employees who met the specified performance standards will receive a performance based variable pay,' the authority said. Salaries at the statutory body were last frozen in 2021-22. The authority said its employees had been informed about the latest move. Advertisement In February, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced the government would freeze civil servant pay and axe 10,000 positions as part of efforts to tackle the city's deficit, which was estimated at HK$87.2 billion (US$11.21 billion) at the time. The announcement prompted many to question whether the city's myriad statutory and advisory bodies, as well as employers in the private sector, would follow suit.
