Critics brand policy ridiculous, calling it an excuse to exploit young talent and dump them as they grow experienced, harder to control
2-MIN READ2-MINFran Luin BeijingPublished: 7:19pm, 24 Sep 2026Updated: 7:20pm, 24 Sep 2026Retail tycoon Yu Donglai, widely known as China’s “most conscientious” boss, recently triggered public controversy with a proposal to sign only a four-year “training initiative” contract with future new hires, without renewing it.
Yu has been nationally acclaimed for the many unconventionally humanistic rules he set up for Pangdonglai, a supermarket chain he founded in central China’s Henan province in 1995.
Yu, for example, once said his 8,000 employees’ after-tax monthly salaries average 9,000 yuan (US$1,350), higher than the province’s average. The company offers 30 days of paid leave plus 10 days of paid “unhappy leave” for those feeling emotionally unwell.
