Corporate compensation and recruitment trends in China and Japan

Recent data highlights significant trends in executive compensation and recruitment across Asian retail and trading sectors. In China, an analysis of 84 listed retail companies shows that 767 executives earned a total of 605 million yuan. Compensation varies widely by sector: duty-free retail averages 1.54 million yuan, while supermarkets average 630,000 yuan. The data indicates a growing trend of professional managers receiving high salaries to drive performance, signaling a separation of ownership and control.

In Japan, the trading and wholesale sectors continue to lead in annual earnings. Mitsubishi Corporation remains the top-ranked company for the third consecutive year, with an average annual salary of 20.33 million yen. It is followed by Mitsui & Co. at 19.96 million yen, Itochu Corporation at 18.04 million yen, Sumitomo Corporation at 17.44 million yen, and Marubeni at 17.08 million yen.

Additionally, recruitment trends in Japan show that media companies, major trading houses, and consulting firms are the most successful in hiring graduates from elite private universities, including Waseda, Keio, Sophia, and Tokyo University of Science.