Abstract: The article discusses the practice of motivating employees of the Chinese public sector through wages. The author notes that, in general, the system of "salary" motivation of employees in the public sector is characterized by a rather low role of the basic salary and seniority allowances. The main earnings of employees are provided by the official salary, the coefficients of collective and personal efficiency at work that increase the amount of earnings, allowances and surcharges directly related to the effectiveness of staff work, their professional development and career growth. At the same time, mechanisms are actively used to avoid an excessive gap in the income level of senior employees and the bulk of the staff.   The difference in the salary level is strictly limited, the level of remuneration is tied to the formalized requirements imposed on each specific employee. The article notes that the equalizing principles of remuneration accrual are closely and quite harmoniously combined with purely market ones. The latter makes it possible to motivate employees to highly productive work, improve their qualifications, receive education, participate in the rationalization of production, and at the same time makes it possible to minimize conflicts between senior employees and the bulk of the staff, as well as to avoid the occurrence of such a destructive factor as awareness by the bulk of employees of the injustice of the payroll system.