Boss Suspended Over Banking Spanking Row

A Chinese bank has suspended its chairman after a motivational trainer cut off the hair of under-performing employees and smacked their bottoms.

Changzhi Zhangze Rural Commercial Bank hired a training company to run a "performance breakthrough" course, an industry watchdog reported on a government website.

Eight employees - four men and four women - who achieved low scores during the session were paraded on stage in front of colleagues while trainer Jiang Yang walked down the line and spanked their behinds with a large stick.

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One employee responded with "I'm not hard on myself", while another shouted: "I didn't make a breakthrough!"

A third person blamed a lack of teamwork for his poor performance.

Video of the spanking has attracted both amusement and criticism on Chinese social media

"Since when does beating employees become a way of raising performance?" asked Weibo user Denny Tangmashi.

Another declared: "They need to be beaten with a stick!"

According to reports on the Changzhi city government's website, Mr Jiang punished employees further by cutting the women's hair and shaving the men's heads.

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China's banking oversight body described the session as "improper", adding it had suspended the bank's chairman and a deputy governor and ordered Mr Jiang to make a public apology.

Writing on his blog, the trainer absolved the bank of any responsibility.

"Spanking was a training model I have been exploring for many years," he said.