The article examines the experience of Chinese credit institutions in optimizing personnel costs for the purpose of generating financial results and improving competitiveness. The structure of costs included along with wages in the “social package” in the largest banks of the People’s Republic of China is analyzed. The problems of managing the entire complex of costs depending on the numerical and qualification composition of personnel in conjunction with the established traditions of their state regulation are revealed. The proposed directions for solving these problems in the Chinese banking sector can be used by Russian organizations to improve the efficiency of optimizing current costs, as well as investments in human capital.