Story highlights A Chinese bank hired a corporate coach to train employees

The coach spanked trainees on stage as punishment

Bank executives removed from posts following public anger

Beijing (CNN) Eight employees of a rural bank in China have been publicly spanked for poor performance.

A cellphone video of a man with a wooden stick spanking each employee four times on a stage has been widely shared on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, since Sunday.

One of the hits threw a woman off balance. Some members of the audience, seated at dinner tables, can be seen turning their heads away in embarrassment.

Initial Chinese media reports suggested it was the employees' boss wielding the stick but, according to a statement by local authorities in Changzhi, Shanxi province, the spanking was at the hands of a corporate coach during a team-building exercise organized by the bank.

It also claimed the coach shaved a man's head half bald as punishment.

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