Updated August 4, 2020
How much is the average salary in China? How much money a university teacher/postdoctoral fellow/student does earn per month? In this post, I’ll share with you a comprehensive guide about the average salaries/scholarships in China, that too for a diverse set of professions and skills! All the mentioned incomes/salaries are before tax. Moreover, most of these salaries are for the Chinese nationals (without a foreign degree). For foreigners’ salary, I’ll explicitly add a foreign tag. For all currency conversions, you can safely apply US $1= RMB 7.
Disclaimer: The salary/wage information in this post is based upon my living experiences in the eastern part of China (Shanghai, and nearby regions), and what my Chinese friends/colleagues informed me. In any case, I’m not a financial/legal expert; so, read anything and everything with a grain of salt. That said, I’m giving you the details to the best of my knowledge (July 2020). 🙂
How Much Is the Average Salary in China?
University Scholarships
Only the meritorious students receive scholarship: about 10% of the whole class strength. Here is a broad outline of the scholarships provided by the government-funded universities in China:
- Undergraduates: nothing to RMB 4,000/semester (4 months).
- Masters: nothing to RMB 6,000/semester.
- PhD: RMB 8,000/semester
Often, the research students (master/PhD) receive additional monthly scholarships from their supervisor (from the research grants/funding). Some of my master/PhD friends receive RMB 1,000/month for doing their lab/research works. This is, of course, apart from the scholarship provided by their university. Moreover, a student working for scientific/engineering projects may receive more scholarship than those in arts major.
I know a few undergraduate students earning RMB 500/month in their final year as they join research labs for the final year projects.
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Part-time Jobs
The university scholarship is often not enough to maintain a full living. Normally, the university students (undergrads/master/PhD) would join part-time jobs. They are paid on an hourly basis. How much they are paid varies.
A few part-time job wage examples:
- The minimum part-time job pay in China, that I am aware of, is RMB 15/hour (McDonald’s/KFC).
- I know a 4th year undergraduate girl who earned RMB 30/hour for organizing a weeklong event. Her job was to stand in a kiosk/stall and talk to the guests.
- I also know a few students who earn about RMB 80/hour. Basically, they teach math/science, etc. to a group of middle/high school students. There are so many companies in China that help university students find such part-time jobs.
Fresh Undergraduates
A few days back, I was talking to an undergraduate girl, 23, at McDonald’s (it was actually a coffee date in the evening). She is majoring in finance and is about to complete undergraduate course within a few months. This girl had attended a job interview the same morning, and was offered RMB 3,500/month salary to work at a local subway station. She didn’t accept the offer as she wanted at least RMB 5,000/month, which, in her own words, is NOT an easy target.
A few months back, I was dating a girl. Chemistry major. She was offered RMB 4,000/month, which she gladly accepted. However, due to “some” deductions, less than 4,000/month was credited in her bank account.
Basically, the fresh university graduates are likely to earn about RMB 4,000/month.
Students majoring in computer science/software engineering often earns a much higher salary. I’ll touch this issue shortly.
Fresh Masters Students
Master graduates (Chinese students, who have successfully completed a three-year long master program) are usually offered RMB 5,000/month.
Postdoctoral Fellows/PhD Graduates
They are offered somewhere RMB 6000-7000/month.
Lecturers
Quite similar to the fresh PhD graduates. They earn about RMB 7,000 to 8,000/month. I have a few friends who are Lecturers/Assistant Professors. They seem to be practically capped at 8,000/month.
Salary Increments
Well, one of my Chinese friend was recently promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. His salary was increased by RMB 1000/month. Now he earns RMB 8,500/month.
However, in normal situations, the once-a-year salary hike, for an Assistant Professor, would be RMB 100/month. That is to say, if you are earning RMB 8,000/month in 2020, you will earn RMB 8,100/month in 2021.
Foreign Postdocs?
If you have a PhD degree from Harvard, or similar prestigious universities, you’ll be offered a higher salary. It’s quite normal to earn RMB 300,000/year (RMB 25,000/month). Moreover, private universities are likely to offer a relatively higher salary.
In fact, one of my female Chinese friends, who is a postdoctoral fellow in a government-funded university, earns over RMB 300,000/year. This is rather an exceptional salary. Her contract is for 3 years. She has a PhD from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhong Ke Yuan). In fact, has never been to abroad.
Bonus
My Chinese colleagues receive an additional pay, equivalent to 2 to 4 month’s salary, at the end of each year (it depends on annual performance review). I am aware that there certain organizations where the bonus has been reduced to almost zero in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Software Engineers
They earn a relatively much higher salary. For a fresh undergraduate, it could be somewhere RMB 8,000 to 10,000/month. RMB 20,000/month would be quite normal if a software engineer has a few years of working experience.
Foreign English Teachers
Often the foreign English teachers earn RMB 7,000-10,000/month in Beijing/Shanghai types of cities.
However, international schools are the exceptions. They may pay you even RMB 15,000/month.
I believe that a good number of foreign English teachers in China earn extra income by doing part-time work (it that seems a legal framework is coming up in the late 2020 to regulate such incomes). One of my Chinese colleague sends her 5-year-old daughter to an English tuition center. She pays RMB 300/hour for her little daughter’s English education. Moreover, the one-hour class has nearly 10 students.
RECAP
Overall, on an international standard, the average salaries for the Chinese people is not all that high. Of course, the cost of living in China is also quite manageable for the given salaries. Further, if you are coming to China for work, I’m sure you can manage a good living for an average income of RMB 10,000/month.
However, you won’t be able to save much in China. This could be an issue for the expats from the western countries as the work permit/visa is given only up to ~60. So, one day, unfortunately, you’ll have to leave China. Where will you retire? Choosing the best place to live in retirement would be challenging. As such, it’d be difficult to retire in the US/Canada/UK if most of your savings are from the average Chinese salary standards.
That’s why, I urge the Chinese government to further streamline rules to allow us foreigners obtain permanent residency. I mean, when I am young I work in China. Where should I go when I am old?
Thoughts on the average salary in China are welcome!
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