Following the high-profile corruption crackdown among government ranks in 2014, Chinese officials confirmed a pay-rise plan for civil servants on Jan. 12.
The increases, which will impact the remuneration packages of officials in various roles, were announced in the Hong Kong media on Sunday.
The official confirmation from the Chinese government was made during a press conference on Monday, at which Hu Xiaoyi, vice minister of the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security, said that three salary adjustment plans will be implemented for the benefit of civil servants, public-institution employees, and former public sector workers who are now retired. Current public-sector employees were not mentioned at the press conference.
According to the council's plan, the base salary for ministerial level officials will increase from 7,020 yuan ($1,500) to 11,385 yuan, and the salaries for those employees at the bottom stratum will rise to 1,320 yuan from 630 yuan. Additionally, the salaries of civil servants will be adjusted annually or every two years.
Although base salaries will be increased, allowance rates will remain stagnant through mechanisms in the plan, and some allowances will be combined with base salaries. Overall, the allowances for ministerial level officials will go down by 650 yuan, while a 220-yuan drop will affect the lowest-level staff members.
However, Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told the Global Times that "civil servants' low salaries lead to corruption, but raising their salary does not necessarily mean corruption will disappear."
Hu called for greater governmental transparency, a comprehensive anti-graft legal system and public monitoring in addition to the pay rise.
The State Council's announcement was meant to be effective from Oct. 1, 2014, so civil servants will receive a one-off compensation payment for the fourth quarter of last year.