Beijing: A motivational trainer in China, upset at the low scores in a session with rural bank employees, handed out beatings for eight of them, shaved the heads of the men and cut the hair of the women.

"Spanking was a training model I have been exploring for many years," the trainer, Jiang Yang, said on his microblog, absolving the bank's leadership of direct responsibility.

Changzhi Zhangze Rural Commercial Bank, a lender in China's northern Shanxi province, hired a Shanghai-based training company to run a "performance breakthrough" course, a local rural banking oversight body said on a government-run website.

After a day of training last weekend for a staff of more than 200, Mr Jiang demanded explanations from the eight employees with the weakest scores.