Two Chinese companies and JPMorgan have become the latest banking groups to cut jobs in China as a slow recovery in listing and dealmaking activities force them to ramp up cost controls, six sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The extremely rare move is being viewed by some staffers as a way for the bank to cut costs without making bankers redundant The efforts to further drive down costs come as deals from IPOs to mergers and acquisitions in China and Hong Kong have plummeted in recent years China International Capital Corp is planning to demote some of its senior bankers and cut their pay,