Annual Report 2023

ANNUAL REPORT 2023 25 EMPLOYEES AND REMUNERATION As at 31 December 2023, the Group employed 7,749 fulltime staff, of which 155 worked in Hong Kong, 4,532 worked in Mainland China, and the remaining 3,062 worked overseas. The remuneration paid by the Group during the year amounted to HK$2,125 million, representing 27.5% of the total operating expenses of the Group. In 2023, in the face of the sluggish recovery of the global economy, increasing uncertainties in economic and commerce or other macroeconomic environments, the Group persisted on seeking progress while maintaining stability and managed to capture opportunities under the complex situation. By fully implementing various development measures and continuously optimizing the salary incentive mechanism, it facilitated in-depth integration of personnel efficiency improvement and business development which in turn promoted the high-quality development of the Group. The Group improved the income distribution mechanism, implemented the double benchmarking of performance- based remuneration, optimized the remuneration strategy, in a timely manner and improved the efficiency of resource allocation. The Group kept on exploring and setting up the diversified and internationalised incentive system, combining short-term and medium-and long-term incentives, as well as equity incentives and cash incentives to form a mechanism for benefits sharing and risks bearing between employees and the Group. Upholding the principle of the performance- oriented and market-oriented income distribution concept, the Group implemented precise incentives by levels and categories with sound performance assessment and incentive mechanism and made every effort to strengthen the performance assessment. Through the formation of a dynamic salary adjustment mechanism linked with assessment, the Group continued to reap effective results from salary incentives. The salary distribution was tilted to outstanding teams and staff who would create value, to front-line talents who had made outstanding contributions, and to scientific and technological innovation talents and value creators. In compliance with the principles of internationalization, localization and marketization, the Group has built an international talent incentive system that combines differentiated management and all-round security to ensure the effective operation of the management model of “long-term expatriate specialization, short-term expatriate institutionalization and young backup talents”. The Group explored the construction of incentive mechanism for technology-based enterprises, formulated and introduced special incentive measures for scientific and technological innovation talents, strengthened the incentive orientation of value creation of innovative elements such as knowledge and technology, and provided policy support and protection system for encouraging scientific and technological innovation. The Group paid attention to the establishment of a long-term incentive mechanism and studied the feasibility of phased implementation of the equity incentive plan. It explored the applicability of medium and long-term incentive tools, and actively promoted medium and long-term incentive plans for senior management and core backbone employees, so as to effectively mobilize enthusiasm and creativity and stimulate corporate vitality. INVESTOR RELATIONS In 2023, the Group actively communicated with investors and analysts from all over the world, participated in more than 20 investor conferences and roadshows, and flexibly adopted online and offline communication methods in response to the needs of the capital market. A number of company research and management meetings were arranged to ensure regular communication with shareholders and investors, timely delivery of company value, in order to allow the capital market to fully understanding its operating performance and financial results. In addition, in response to the hot topics of the industry concerned by the capital market, the Group gave feedback in a timely manner to further improve the information transparency as a listed company. During the year, the Group communicated with more than 340 investors and analysts around the world.