China to link bankers' pay to risk-taking

China said it plans to link its bankers’ pay to risks taken by their institutions but has no plans for salary caps.

The announcement by a government spokeswoman today came as leaders of the Group of 20 major economies meeting in Pittsburgh neared agreement on compensation limits for bankers whose risky behaviour contributed to the global financial meltdown.

A China Banking Regulatory Commission spokeswoman who would give only her surname, Zhang, said Beijing was working on a plan to “improve the wage incentive mechanism for the country’s banking industry”. She said it would “link pay to operating risks”.