According to a 2015 China Daily news article, President Xi Jinping earns a “basic monthly salary” of 11,385 yuan or around US$1600.

That makes his annual salary ¥136,620 or US$19,200, putting him among the lowest-paid leaders in the world.

China Daily, which is state-owned, says Xi is paid at the same rate as other national officials on the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee.

Chinese civil servants are also given allowances “according to duties and work positions”, China Daily says, though the extent of those allowances is not clear. (Most other countries offer non-salary allowances to politicians too).

But can it really be true that the Chinese president earns less than the average salary of a fast-food worker in the USA?

¥11,385 per month is Xi’s official salary, so it is only fair to cite that figure when comparing his pay to other world leaders’ salaries.

However, it is unlikely that Xi will live as modestly as his salary suggests.

Inevitably, China’s most powerful person enjoys many other perks of the job beyond his official salary.

Xi lives in a Beijing gated compound called Zhongnanhai, a 1,500-acre site of imperial pavilions, temples, residential buildings and offices for the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

As one Chinese resident said on Quora, “the salary is meaningless to him because Xi Jinping will not go shopping in supermarkets outside Zhongnanhai”.

“The interior of Zhongnanhai in Beijing is actually a gated living community with a supermarket, cafeteria, basketball court, tennis court, hospital and cinema …… In the past, there were primary and secondary schools in Zhongnanhai. All the daily necessities of Xi Jinping’s family can be supplied in Zhongnanhai,” the Quora author claimed.

Whatever his government income, Xi’s family is clearly not short of cash.

A Bloomberg investigation in 2012 reported Xi’s siblings had quietly amassed a private fortune worth over $US1 billion, obscured beneath assumed names and holding companies.

The ‘Panama Papers’ leak in 2016 separately linked the family members of Xi and other Chinese leaders to multiple offshore companies.

So, it may be correct that his official salary is only around US$19,000, but like many world leaders, the size of his government pay packet isn’t a great indication of his overall wealth.

Photo credit: UN Geneva (Creative Commons)

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Simplified Chinese version:

习近平真的只赚1.9万美元吗？

根据 2015 年《中国日报》的一篇新闻文章，国家主席习近平的“基本月薪”为 11,385 元人民币，约合 1,600 美元。

他的年薪为 136,620 元人民币，约合 19,200 美元，是世界上收入最低的领导人之一。

国有媒体《中国日报》称，习近平的薪酬与中共中央政治局常务委员会的其他国家官员相同。

《中国日报》称，中国公务员也“根据职责和工作岗位”获得津贴，尽管这些津贴的数额尚不清楚。（大多数其他国家也向政客提供非工资津贴）。

但中国国家主席的收入真的比美国快餐工人的平均工资还低吗？

每月 11,385 元是习近平的正式工资，因此在将他的工资与其他世界领导人的工资进行比较时，使用这个数字是公平的。

然而，习近平不太可能过着像他的工资所暗示的那样简朴的生活。

不可避免的是，除了正式工资之外，中国最有权势的人还享受着许多其他福利。

习近平住在北京的中南海，这里占地 1,500 英亩，里面有皇家亭台楼阁、寺庙、住宅楼和中国共产党领导层的办公室。

正如一位中国居民在 Quora 上所说，“工资对他来说毫无意义，因为习近平不会去中南海以外的超市购物”。

Quora 的作者声称：“北京中南海内部实际上是一个封闭的生活小区，里面有超市、自助餐厅、篮球场、网球场、医院和电影院……过去，中南海有小学和中学。习近平一家的所有生活必需品都可以在中南海买到。”

无论他的总收入是多少，习近平的家人显然不缺钱。

彭博社 2012 年的一项调查报道称，习近平的兄弟姐妹悄悄积累了价值超过 10 亿美元的私人财富，这些财富隐藏在假名和控股公司之下。

2016 年的“巴拿马文件”泄露分别将习近平和其他中国领导人的家人与多家离岸公司联系起来。

因此，他的官方工资只有 19,000 美元左右可能是正确的，但与许多世界领导人一样，他的政府工资包的数额并不能很好地表明他的整体财富。

图片来源：联合国日内瓦（知识共享）