Executives of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under central government control are required to list their annual income among company affairs that should be made known among workers, the country's top state assets watchdog has said.

These SOE executives earned 13.5 times that of the workers' average last year, up from 12.7 times in the previous year, according to Li Yizhong, deputy director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The annual income of workers in central-control SOEs averaged 24,000 yuan (US$ 2,900) in 2003, while that of top executives stood at 325,000 yuan (US$39,200). The workers earned 19,700 yuan in 2002, compared with their managers' 250,000 yuan.

The commission has demanded full transparency in income distribution inside SOEs in an effort to intensify public supervision over SOE executives.

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2004)