(Yicai) Sept. 6 -- Seventeen of the 42 listed Chinese banks have lowered the salaries of their employees in the first half of the year, six more than in the same period last year.

The biggest monthly salary decline was implemented at Bank of Shanghai, as the average income of its staffers fell 22.5 percent to CNY35,700 (USD4,880) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, according to financial data platform Wind.

Shenzhen-based China Merchants Bank was the highest-paying lender in the first half, granting employees an average monthly salary of CNY53,600, down 2.4 percent from the same period last year. Jiangsu Bank ranked second with CNY51,100, down over 10 percent.

The 42 listed Chinese banks spent CNY466.2 billion (USD63.8 billion) in salaries in the first half, an increase of 3.4 percent from a year earlier, which was nearly half of the rise in the same period last year. The growth rate of salaries of banks’ employees has been declining since 2021.

By the end of June, the 42 lenders had over 2.5 million employees, up 1 percent from a year ago. However, more and more large banks shrank their staff. Agricultural Bank of China had 444,932 workers as of June 30, down 5,300 from a year earlier. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China had 415,719 workers, down 9,000 in the period.

In recent years, China has been lowering the benchmark interest rate for loans to support the development of the economy. This resulted in narrower net interest margins and greater pressure on bank performance. Net profits at China’s 42 listed lenders rose 3.4 percent to CNY1.1 trillion (USD150.5 billion) in the first six months from a year earlier, a growth rate 4 percentage points lower than that in the first half of last year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione