Annual average salary of China’s urban employees witnesses steady growth in 2019

By Li Jie

The average salary of China's urban employees recorded robust growth last year thanks to the country's steady economic operation, official data showed.

Last year, industries related to public services and consumption upgrade as well as emerging industries including science and education, information, and transportation witnessing robust growth momentum, according to the latest statistics from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The annual average salary of employees in enterprises above designated size rose by 10 percent year on year to 75,229 yuan (about $10,575.08) in 2019.

The annual average salary of urban employees in non-private sectors stood at 90,501 yuan, representing an inflation-adjusted real growth of 6.8 percent, while the annual average salary of urban employees in private sectors grew by 5.2 percent from the previous year to 53,604 yuan.

In 2019, China achieved overall economic stability with steady progress, maintained stable employment situation, and witnessed steady growth of the average salary of urban employees, said Meng Canwen, deputy chief of the population and employment statistics department of the NBS.

Urban employees in information transmission, software and information technology services sector, financial services sector, as well as scientific research and technology services sector enjoyed the highest annual average salary, according to the NBS.

The annual average salary of urban employees in six non-private sectors exceeded 100,000 yuan last year, including the above-mentioned three sectors and health and social care sector, the sector of the production and supply of electricity, heating, fuel gas, and water, as well as culture, sports, and entertainment sector.

Employees related to public services and consumption upgrade witnessed faster salary raises.

With people’s living standards being continuously improved, cultural undertaking and cultural industry in China have developed at an increasingly faster pace.

Last year, the annual average salary of urban employees engaging in production of radio, television and film works and sound recording, as well as journalism and publication rose by 13.7 percent and 13.4 percent respectively.

The annual average salary of urban employees working in industries related to services regarding people’s living consumption showed continuous growth last year, with the figures in automotive electronics and essentials repair industry, residential services industry, and postal services industry increasing by 16.6 percent, 10.8 percent, and 10.4 percent respectively.

Pay levels of economic sectors which are regarded as drivers of innovation in the country, such as scientific research and higher education, showed considerable potential for growth during last year.

Statistics indicated that China’s expenditures on research and experimental development in 2019 grew by 10.5 percent from the previous year.

Meanwhile, the annual average salary of the country’s urban employees engaging in research and experimental development, as well as higher education in non-private sectors rose by 15.9 percent and 13.2 percent respectively, which were respectively 6.1 percentage points and 3.4 percentage points higher than the national growth.

Efforts to promote the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, constant increase in research and development input, the implementation of profit distribution policies oriented toward increasing the value of knowledge as well as the introduction of more flexible salary systems have facilitated the rapid growth of average salary of employees in scientific research and higher education sectors, Meng pointed out.

Widespread use of information technology has also brought about decent incomes for employees in certain fields.

As the Internet plays an increasingly important role in more industries, people working in Internet-based businesses in the sector of information transmission, software and information technology services saw their annual average salary grow at a faster pace in 2019 than the year before.

The growth rates of these urban employees in non-private sectors and private sectors were 13.6 percent and 11.8 percent respectively.

At the same time, with continuous improvement in transportation infrastructure being realized across the country, China has witnessed growing needs for transport services for both people and goods, leading to steady increase of the average salary of employees in transportation sector.

Last year, the annual average salary of urban employees in non-private sectors of air transport industry and railway transport industry grew by 11.5 percent and 10 percent respectively.

(Source: People’s Daily Overseas Edition)