China must improve income distribution - President
BEIJING (Reuters) - China must improve income distribution at state companies and ensure executives are not overpaid, among other things, President Xi Jinping was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Xi made the remarks on Monday after meeting senior officials spearheading reforms. No further details were provided.
Chinese state firms - which control sectors regarded to be of vital national interests - are often criticised for being inefficient and not turning over more of their profits to the nation despite being generously subsidised by the state.
Critics say China could fund a stronger social safety net if state companies shared more of their earnings.
China last November unveiled reforms to raise the proportion of dividends paid by state firms to 30 percent of their profits by 2020. Current dividends paid by state companies range between 10 percent to a quarter of their profits.
(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
