The local authorities of the Chinese Communist Party are facing financial difficulties, with frequent incidents of unpaid and withheld wages. In one area of Yunnan province, three commercial bureau chiefs joined forces to demand their unpaid salaries, totaling nearly tens of millions of yuan. Netizens commented on the situation, saying, “They made empty promises to each other, but in the end, it’s all a mess.”
According to mainland Chinese media reports on March 20, Sun Decheng, Yang Jianfeng, and Geng Wentao, three former commercial bureau chiefs in Dianzhong New Area of Kunming, Yunnan Province, initiated labor arbitration to demand that the Dianzhong New Area fulfill its commitments and pay their withheld salaries. Their labor arbitration application shows that the three individuals respectively requested labor compensation of 3.23 million yuan, 3.55 million yuan, and 3.05 million yuan, totaling nearly tens of millions of yuan.
Since their verbal dismissal from the Dianzhong New Area’s Human Resources Development Center, a subordinate agency, in March 2024, the labor dispute between the two parties has been ongoing for two years.
Back in May 2020, when local finances were still relatively stable, the Dianzhong New Area authorities issued a public recruitment notice nationwide to hire six commercial bureau chiefs. The compensation offered was very attractive, including a base salary (200,000 yuan) + performance pay (500,000 yuan) + special contribution award, with the performance pay being paid upon assessment. Those who completed the probation period and met the conditions were eligible to apply for special talent funding.
At the age of 45, Sun Decheng had previously served as the general manager of a state-owned enterprise under the Chinese Academy of Sciences with a rank equivalent to a department head. He applied for the position of commercial bureau chief in the Jing-Jin-Ji region of the Dianzhong New Area, only to find out during the signing of the agreement that there was no special talent funding as promised, and the work location had changed from Beijing as advertised to Kunming. Nevertheless, Sun Decheng accepted the position.
In 2021, the Dianzhong New Area initiated another round of recruitment. This time, the announcement clearly stated that there were no administrative or professional ranks for the recruitment positions, with a comprehensive pre-tax annual salary of 800,000 yuan (subject to performance evaluation), without specifying the work location. Through headhunting recommendations, Geng Wentao from the post-80s generation and Yang Jianfeng from the post-70s generation took up positions as regional commercial bureau chiefs in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, respectively. Geng Wentao had previously been the director of an investment bureau in a development zone in Northeast China, while Yang Jianfeng had served as a commercial bureau chief in a provincial-level high-tech zone in central China.
However, things started to shift gradually. The three individuals stated that their initial salary payments upon joining were normal. But later on, things went awry. From August 2020 to December 2021, the Dianzhong New Area paid salaries on a monthly basis based on a structure of a base salary of 200,000 yuan plus a performance pay of 500,000 yuan. Yang Jianfeng and Geng Wentao had agreed upon a salary structure of “48+32”, meaning a basic salary of 480,000 yuan and a performance pay of 320,000 yuan. In early 2022, Sun Decheng’s salary structure was also changed to the same “48+32” model.
By June 2022, the salaries of the three individuals were suddenly adjusted to 16,660 yuan per month before tax, only a small fraction of their original basic salary. The three claimed that the explanation given by the Human Resources Development Center of the Dianzhong New Area for this adjustment was a restructuring of the salary scheme from “48+32” to “20+60”, meaning a base salary of 200,000 yuan and a performance pay of 600,000 yuan, citing that it was based on opinions from the leadership of the management committee.
Additionally, the performance pay turned out to be a complete illusion. From June 2022 to November 2025, they did not receive any performance rewards in addition to their basic salary of over 16,000 yuan per month. From September to November 2025, there were even deductions made from their basic salary.
After their salaries were cut, the three individuals embarked on a long road of seeking justice, eventually filing for labor arbitration in November 2025. The compensation amounts they sought were 3.23 million yuan for Sun Decheng, 3.55 million yuan for Yang Jianfeng, and 3.05 million yuan for Geng Wentao, totaling nearly 10 million yuan.
The management committee of the Dianzhong New Area recently proposed a settlement, offering Sun Decheng, Yang Jianfeng, and Geng Wentao 650,000 yuan, 400,000 yuan, and 350,000 yuan respectively, totaling 1.4 million yuan. However, all three individuals firmly rejected the offer.
On March 17, the personnel of the Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Institute in Guandu District, Kunming City, stated that if the two sides could not reach a consensus on the settlement proposal, a final ruling would be issued on March 22.
The joint action of the three commercial bureau chiefs to demand their unpaid wages has sparked heated discussions on the internet. Netizens commented: “They made empty promises to each other, but in the end, it’s all just a mess, it’s a matter of who is more irresponsible.” “No one will want to engage in commercial activities in the future.” “Deceiving each other first, and then blaming each other in the end.” “So it’s not just companies exploiting employees, government agencies also act this way.” “This kind of commercial bureau… is also deceiving and swindling.”