Many large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have chosen to grant paid leave to employees instead of laying them off after suspending operations because of the global financial crisis.

The Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported last week that 22,000 workers of China International Marine Containers Co (CIMC) have gone on leave because the company's core business, dry van manufacturing, has come to a standstill for two months.

The CIMC issued a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange yesterday, saying: "The whole dry van manufacturing industry in China has almost stopped production ..." The world's largest shipping container maker, however, did not clarify whether 22,000, or 38 percent, of its employees had actually gone on paid leave.