Alibaba best-paying tech company in China despite crackdown

Beijing, June 1

Despite China aiming to rein in domestic Internet giants, Alibaba is still the best-paying tech company in the country at an average monthly salary of $5,000, followed by ByteDance and Tencent Holdings that offer average monthly wages of $4,900 and $4,600, respectively.

According to South China Morning Post, citing data from Chinese career and social-networking platform Maimai, the most generous tech companies in terms of annual bonuses last year were smartphone maker OPPO, Tencent Holdings, and Ant Group.

Huawei Technologies paid an average bonus of $25,000 last year, according to the data. Didi Chuxing was in the 10th spot with an annual bonus of $15,000.

According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the average nationwide annual per capita disposable income for 2021 was 35,128 yuan ($5,428), equivalent to about a month's salary at one of the Big Tech companies, the report mentioned.

"The size of an annual bonus reflects a company's financial performance, which is also an important symbol of an industry's rise and fall, and can even act as a barometer of the economy," Lin Fan, founder and Chief Executive of Maimai, was quoted as saying in the report.

Tech companies in China are paying hefty salaries and bonuses but this scenario might change with China planning to further shift its policies to control domestic tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent.

Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly "intends to shift policies regarding its control over the country's major tech companies such as Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings".

"The move is apparently aimed at revitalising the internet sector and propping up the Chinese economy, which is losing momentum amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the country's zero-Covid policy".

Since last year, Chinese regulatory authorities have been cracking down harder on domestic tech giants to end their dominance in the internet sector.

In March, Covid-19 lockdowns and China's position on the Ukraine conflict led to tech shares rout, slashing billions of dollars from the likes of Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings in Hong Kong.

Chinese stocks in the US also suffered their biggest selloff since 2008 after US regulators identified five companies that could be subject to delisting for failing to comply with auditing requirements.

In December last year, Alibaba announced a major reshuffle at the top, as the country tightened its stand against domestic Big Tech companies over data and internet regulations.

Alibaba also unveiled major reorganisation plans to boost its strategy of domestic and international e-commerce.