Real estate high-salary downturn: "Ten million annual salary" disappears from view, Yu Liang's salary last year was 240k

The Glory and Exit of an Industry

As the real estate industry undergoes deep adjustments, the compensation systems for senior executives in property companies are experiencing an unprecedented restructuring.

Recently, the annual reports of listed property companies for 2025 have been released in bulk. Data from several companies that have disclosed executive compensation show that the “work emperor” earning tens of millions annually has nearly disappeared, and only a few property firms can still pay stable million-yuan salaries.

Meanwhile, those still facing credit risks and with sharply declining profits continue to see their executive pay shrink, with some well-known executives’ annual salaries dropping to ordinary workplace levels.

From the “Million-Yuan Club” to the “Hundred-Thousand-Yuan Survival Line,” the contraction of executive compensation in property companies is not only a result of performance changes but also a reflection of re-priced industry risks.

Yu Liang earned 240k yuan at Vanke last year

Once a benchmark for high executive pay, Vanke’s compensation has nearly plummeted off a cliff.

According to Vanke A (000002.SZ)’s recent annual report, in 2025, Vanke achieved operating revenue of 233.4 billion yuan, down 32% year-on-year, with a loss of 88.6 billion yuan, a significant increase from the previous year. Due to various factors, Vanke’s risks have not been fully resolved, and its operational development still faces severe challenges.

Correspondingly, Vanke’s executive pay continues to shrink. In 2025, the total pre-tax compensation for all full-time directors, supervisors, and senior managers was 7.02 million yuan. Vanke stipulates that directors and supervisors who work full-time at the company do not receive remuneration for their director or supervisor roles but are paid solely based on their work performance.

Among them, Vanke Chairman Huang Liping has already received compensation from related parties, so he has “zero salary” at Vanke.

Former Chairman of the Board and Executive Vice President Yu Liang, who worked at Vanke until January 2026, received 242k yuan in 2025; former President and CEO Zhu Jiusheng, who left in January 2025, received a pre-tax total of 21k yuan.

Even for the properly performing Executive Vice President and CFO Han Huihua, the annual salary is only 240k yuan, far from the peak industry levels.

When Vanke’s performance and profits were at their peak, the salaries of directors and senior managers reached tens of millions. For example, Yu Liang’s pre-tax salary in 2019 and 2020 was 12.51 million and 12.47 million yuan, respectively, and Zhu Jiusheng’s salaries in those two years exceeded 11.2 million yuan.

In 2020, the total pre-tax compensation for seven directors, supervisors, and senior managers at Vanke reached 58.19 million yuan, which shrank by 88% by 2025.

The turning point came in 2021, despite Vanke’s net profit reaching a peak of 38.1 billion yuan, a sense of crisis among executives had already emerged. That year, the combined pre-tax compensation of eight directors, supervisors, and senior executives dropped 50% compared to 2020. Chairman Yu Liang voluntarily gave up all his annual bonuses, and his salary plummeted from tens of millions to 1.54 million yuan.

Since then, as Vanke’s operational situation worsened and net profit declined, Yu Liang’s salary continued to decrease.

According to Vanke’s 2023 annual report, the eight full-time directors, supervisors, and senior managers at Vanke voluntarily waived their 2023 bonuses. Additionally, since the report, Chairman Yu Liang, President Zhu Jiusheng, and Supervisor Chairman Jiedong have voluntarily agreed to receive a monthly pre-tax salary of 10k yuan. Vanke’s 2024 annual report shows Yu Liang’s total pre-tax compensation for that year was 336k yuan.

For Vanke, the downward trend in executive pay still seems to have no “bottom.”

Some executives’ pay has been halved compared to their peak

A similar situation occurred at Jin Di Group (600383.SH).

Last year, Jin Di reported a net loss of 13.3 billion yuan, and its executive compensation also shrank accordingly. According to the annual report disclosed on April 3, Jin Di achieved revenue of 35.9 billion yuan, down 52% year-on-year, with a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company at -13.3 billion yuan.

The report also disclosed that Jin Di Group Chairman Xu Jiajun’s pre-tax salary for 2025 was 1.99 million yuan, a 13% decrease from 2.28 million yuan the previous year.

Jin Di Group’s Director, President, and CFO Li Ronghui’s pre-tax annual salary was 1.93 million yuan, down from 2.17 million yuan in 2024.

Additionally, many senior vice presidents at Jin Di earned pre-tax salaries of 1.69 million yuan, and the total pre-tax compensation for all directors and senior managers during the reporting period was 19.61 million yuan, a 27% decrease year-on-year.

In 2019, Jin Di paid a total of 67.71 million yuan in compensation to directors and senior executives. At that time, Chairman Ling Ke’s annual salary was 9.79 million yuan, and Xu Jiajun, as Senior Vice President and Board Secretary, earned 4.05 million yuan—twice the current level.

In contrast, Xincheng Holdings (601155.SH), which still remains profitable, shows a more “moderate decline.”

In 2025, Xincheng Holdings achieved revenue of 53 billion yuan and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 680 million yuan, maintaining stable performance and profits in recent years.

Therefore, the executive pay at Xincheng Holdings has remained relatively stable. According to the annual report, Chairman and President Wang Xiaosong’s annual salary was 3.3 million yuan, a decrease of 340k yuan from the previous year. CFO Guan Youdong’s pre-tax annual salary was 3.3679 million yuan, only slightly down from the previous year.

Xincheng Holdings states that the compensation for its senior management is determined based on the performance evaluation system set by the HR department, the roles and responsibilities of senior managers, and the company’s operational situation, referencing industry salary levels and the results of the businesses they oversee.

Although Xincheng Holdings is one of the few private property companies that has not publicly defaulted on debt during the real estate downturn, its executive pay has still been significantly impacted.

For example, Wang Xiaosong’s pre-tax salary in 2019 once reached 6 million yuan. Earlier, when Wang Zhenhua was chairman, it was also 6 million yuan. Several co-presidents and senior vice presidents at Xincheng also earned around 6 million yuan annually, but now Wang Xiaosong’s pay has nearly halved, and other executives’ salaries have shrunk considerably.

State-owned and central enterprise real estate companies maintain “stability” in pay

While some mixed-ownership and private property firms have experienced sharp layoffs, central and state-owned enterprises show a markedly different rhythm—“stability” runs throughout.

China Merchants Shekou (001979.SZ) is expected to achieve revenue of 154.7 billion yuan and net profit of about 1 billion yuan in 2025, with overall executive compensation remaining stable: Chairman Zhu Wenkai’s pre-tax salary is 2.55 million yuan, General Manager Nie Liming 710k yuan, Vice Presidents Wu Bin and Lü Bin 1.99 million and 2.12 million yuan respectively, with little change from the previous year.

China Jinmao (00817.HK) is one of the few companies to achieve “counter-cyclical growth.” In 2025, Jinmao’s sales and profits both increased, and executive compensation also rose. The total remuneration of directors and top executives reached 13.25 million yuan, up over 20%. Chairman and CEO Tao Tianhai’s annual salary is 3.5 million yuan, and CFO Qiao Xiaojie’s is 3.07 million yuan.

Local state-owned enterprises also remain restrained. China Zhonghua (600675.SH) turned profitable in 2025, but executive pay did not rise; instead, it decreased from 6.99 million yuan to 6.18 million yuan. Several executives earn between 800k and 1.4 million yuan annually, and some directors, due to roles in affiliated companies, take “zero salary” arrangements.

It’s clear that the compensation systems of central and state-owned enterprises are more linked to institutional, performance, and tenure management, with far less fluctuation than market-oriented property firms. In times of industry turbulence, this “dullness” can serve as a stabilizer.

If we extend the timeline, the changes in executive pay in China’s real estate industry almost form a condensed history of the sector’s rise and fall.

During the upward cycle from 2016 to 2020, rapid expansion and high-turnover models fueled numerous “high-salary myths.” At that time, tens of millions in annual pay were not uncommon in real estate, with some companies even stacking equity incentives with cash salaries, creating “work emperors” earning over a billion annually.

Recent salary data shows that executive pay in property companies is now highly correlated with profitability. When companies lose money, salaries are sharply cut, and in some bankrupt or troubled firms, management’s symbolic pay has become routine.

From the disclosed executive compensation data, market-oriented property firms have experienced significant fluctuations in recent years, while central state-owned enterprises maintain institutional stability, forming two distinctly different compensation trajectories.

For industry practitioners, the era of high returns driven by high leverage is a thing of the past. Instead, lower growth, stronger constraints, and longer cycle uncertainties dominate. Those once at the industry’s peak, with salaries dropping from tens of millions to hundreds of thousands or less, reflect not only personal income changes but also the exit of an era. As the “high-salary myth” gradually fades, the attractiveness of a career in real estate is also being reshaped.