A lucrative Chinese crane logistics company piled up £19million in cash for its end-of-year party, allowing employees to go home with as much as they can carry.
The firm, Henan Kuangshan Crane, held its annual party on February 13, and placed the vast sum of cash on 800 banquet tables in true red carpet fashion.
An estimated 7,000 employees attended the celebration, with one outlet reporting a lucky individual leaving with £10,000 worth of cash.
During the gala, the firm's boss, Cui Peijun, reportedly said: "Why are we giving out washing machines? Do you think gold prices have gone up?
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Employees were allowed to walk out with as much money as they could carry
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"In previous years, we gave necklaces and rings, bring up the cash and give everyone another 20,000 yuan.
"Some people ask why we don’t just transfer the money to their accounts, but that way, it’s just cold numbers".
Cui holds 98.88 per cent of the company’s shares, effectively returning a major portion of his dividends to employees.
The company, which makes and hires out cranes, was set up in 2002 and has business operations in over 130 countries, with a history of generosity towards its employees.
In 2024, the company recorded a whopping net profit of £28million, of which around £18million was given back to the pockets of staff on payroll.
In 2023, the firm gave £6.3million to its 40 highest-performing workers, with the three best salespeople each taking home a mighty £540,000.
To celebrate International Women's Day last March, it awarded bonuses totaling nearly £170,000 to close to 2,000 female employees.
The firm's boss has previously spoken out about his motivation for giving out so much money to his staff, saying: "It is not that I love giving out money, it is that young people are burdened with car loans and mortgages and any relief we can offer helps".
In 2022, the charitable philanthropist gave away £3.5million to over 4,000 university students from low-income backgrounds.
In 2024, the company recorded a whopping net profit of £28million, of which around £18million was given back to the pockets of staff on payroll
|VIRAL RUSH
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According to the South China Morning Post, Peijun himself was forced to cut his own education short as his family could not afford the fees.
He said: "Poverty should not be passed down to the next generation. They shouldn’t be stopped from attending school because of poor living conditions".
According to data from the World Bank, China has consistently outperformed both the UK and US in terms of GDP growth every year since 1977 - contributing to the excess wealth able to be distributed to staff.
In 2024, China achieved a five per cent annual growth. The US saw a 2.8 per cent growth, while the UK saw a mere 1.1 per cent increase in GDP.
The IMF said in its World Economic Outlook in January that while the UK is expected to grow just 1.3 percent in 2026, China is set to grow by 4.5 per cent.
Despite this, China's GDP per capita is still significantly lower than both the UK and US - the metric is often used as a measure of the standard of living in a nation.
While the US currently has a GDP per capita of £62,425 and the UK has one of $53,246, China is far behind at just £9,823.
However, while China and the US have consistently seen their quality of life rise since at least 1968, the UK has been in a nearly two-decade stint of stagnation.
Britain's last peak was in 2007, just before the global financial crisis, when its GDP per capita was £37,387. It wasn't until 2024 that this was surpassed.
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