Bank of China Ltd, China's fourth-largest lender by assets, has launched a countrywide exercise to reduce the salary gaps among its employees and mid- and high-level managers in response to Beijing's "common prosperity" drive, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. President Xi Jinping launched the common prosperity drive in 2021 as an effort to reduce income inequality, which could threaten long-term economic growth and even the legitimacy of Communist Party rule. The move follows pay cuts being made at investment banks such as China International Capital Corp (CICC).