As educated Chinese obtain higher-level degrees, their salary and company welfare expectations increase as well. Photo: VCG

The latest national data show that Beijing leads the salary ranking on the Chinese mainland with an annual average approaching 200,000 yuan ($27,920) in 2021, followed closely by Shanghai. Separately, among the main industries, finance, the digital economy, and the services industry have strong salary competitiveness.

The China Statistical Yearbook 2022 published by the National Bureau of Statistics recently listed the average salary of employees in urban non-private units and urban private units in 31 provinces and regions in 2021.

In 2021, the average salary of urban non-private employees was 106,837 yuan, exceeding 100,000 yuan for the first time, and 9,458 yuan more than the previous year. It was also more than double the 2012 figure of 46,769 yuan.

The non-private units in the survey included state-owned companies, urban collective units, joint stock cooperative enterprises, joint venture companies, limited liability companies, joint stock limited companies, Hong Kong-, Macao- and Taiwan-invested companies, and foreign-invested enterprises.

Among the urban non-private units, the average annual salary of employees in 10 provinces and regions exceeded 100,000 yuan. Beijing ranked first with 194,651 yuan, followed by Shanghai with 191,844 yuan, and Southwest China's Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region with 140,355 yuan. The top 10 also included Tianjin, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Qinghai provinces, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Chongqing Municipality. 

Among the 19 categories of non-private urban units, the information transmission, software and information technology services industry had the highest average annual salary of 201,506 yuan, followed by the scientific research and technology services industry and financial industry, both exceeding 150,000 yuan.

According to the national data, the finance industry has strong competitiveness in pay in Shanghai, with an average annual salary of 397,655 yuan.

Overall, the average wage in the non-private sector was significantly higher than that in the private sector.

Separately, another report published by Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau recently showed that, with enterprises gradually resuming production and work, the salary level of all industries in Beijing last year saw an overall upward trend compared with 2020. Among them, the lodging and catering industry, the culture, sports and entertainment industry, and the wholesale and retail industry, which have been greatly affected by the epidemic, continued to recover, and the median salary rose sharply. 

Sorted by the median pay, in the Beijing human resources market, the currency and financial services sector topped the annual salary list with 293,600 yuan. Capital market services (288,300 yuan), internet and related services (245,700 yuan), press and publishing industry (202,400 yuan) and insurance industry (192,200 yuan) ranked from second to fifth, showed the Beijing report.

However, according to a report sent by Chinese online recruitment service provider zhaopin.com to the Global Times on Monday, with the combined impact of the pandemic and the business cycle, the domestic recruitment market is faced with mounting pressure, and wage growth is expected to be under pressure in the short term.

The report by zhaopin.com showed that among the 38 core cities, the average monthly salary in Beijing was 13,442 yuan in the third quarter this year, down 5.7 percent from the previous quarter, while the average salary in Shanghai was 13,408 yuan per month, down 9.2 percent from 14,775 yuan in the second quarter.

According to the report, in the second quarter, under the impact of the epidemic, enterprises were hiring employees only for their core business so the average recruitment salary rose to 10,341 yuan per month, but fell to 10,168 yuan per month in the third quarter, down 1.7 percent from the previous quarter.

Among bachelor's degree holders, the median salary of technical research and development and other professional workers topped with 94,800 yuan. Among those with a master's degree or above, the median salary of those with technical research and development and other professional skills was 112,900 yuan. 

Also, among top management talent, the top three industries in the median salary list were finance, intelligent and high-end manufacturing, and the digital economy, with median pay of 597,600 yuan, 553,300 yuan and 534,400 yuan, respectively.

The top three industries in terms of the median salary of technical talent were finance at 305,100 yuan, software and information services at 289,900 yuan, and intelligent and high-end manufacturing at 289,200 yuan. 

Among bachelor's degree holders, the median salary of technical research and development and other professional workers topped with 94,800 yuan. Among those with a master's degree or above, the median salary of those with technical research and development and other professional skills was 112,900 yuan.