China, America and pay inject drama into AstraZeneca’s AGM

The boss's bonus is an annual debating point at Britain's biggest company. But that's not the only issue this year

AstraZeneca is used to facing protests over pay at its annual general meetings, given the position of its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, as the best-paid FTSE 100 chief executive for most of the past five years. But pay is not the only issue overshadowing this year's virtual gathering on Friday.

Britain's biggest listed company, valued at about 170bn, faces investigations in China over import and data breaches, while it ran into controversy when it ditched the planned 450m expansion of its vaccine site in Speke, near Liverpool, in late January, after failing to hammer out a state support package with the UK government.