Just a few weeks after CEO Michael Dell's heralded trip to the Middle Kingdom, local Chinese media report that Dell (DELL) China has formulated a plan to reduce staff at the end of April.

According to the plan, Dell China will reduce up to 13% of the staff in each of its departments. The reports say that it is urgent for Dell to reduce its staff because its operational expenditures increased remarkably over ten consecutive quarters, but its revenue per employee dropped to the lowest level in seven years.

The last quarterly financial report from Dell shows that the company's net profit dropped by 33% and revenue declined by 5% in the period compared with that the same period the previous years.

The last major staff reduction for Dell happened in 2001 when it reduced 13.5% of its global staff.