Xi Jinping has been handed a 62 per cent pay rise but the Chinese president’s new base salary, equivalent to $22,256 a year, remains a fraction of that of global peers.

The basic monthly salary for China’s top seven leaders has risen to Rmb11,385 ($1,854) from Rmb7,020 before unspecified allowances, the official China Daily newspaper said on Tuesday in a rare discussion of official income.

The pay rise puts Mr Xi, who governs a country of 1.4bn people, well below Barack Obama, who is paid $400,000 a year plus $50,000 for annual expenses, $19,000 for entertainment and $100,000 for travel costs. The US president and his wife reported an adjusted gross income of $481,000 on their 2013 tax return, down sharply from $5.5m four years earlier because of slumping book sales.