China is one of the biggest and fastest growing economies in the world. If you’re considering a teaching English in China, you’re probably wondering how much it will pay. There are many factors that determine how much you’ll earn from English teaching jobs in China so finding a reliable source can mean the difference between earning a lot versus earning nothing. Let me help you save your time from scouring the Internet for a simple yet helpful solution by telling you how much to expect to earn as an English teacher based on your qualifications and experience.
Beijing one of the most desired places to work in China today. A lot of people would love to work here. But that doesn’t mean everybody can find a job. Namely, you may have some problems. You might have heard about the average salary in Beijing for white-collar workers, especially for bachelors degree graduates. In this article we’ll examine what is a good salary in beijing, salary in china for foreigners.
Average salary in beijing
For UI / UX designer, average salary in Beijing is 42000 to 50000 RMB/month, which is higher than most cities in China and even some other countries.
It is a well-known fact that the annual average salary in Beijing is much higher than the others between 2010 to 2014. The top three cities with the highest average salary of professional design based on graphic designer, fashion designer and architect are Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Beijing.
The data tells us that you can expect an average salary of 2,984 RMB per month in Beijing and 5,099 for Shanghai.
After a sharp decline in 2015, last year the average salary in Beijing showed slight growth. The rate of decline was much more dramatic in 2014, by 3.2 percent, compared to 2015. The number of jobs posted on the online job market was slightly down as well. It seems that the number of job offers at the end of last year was lower than it was at the beginning of 2016.
Updated in April 2018, we added some new details about Shanghai and Shenzhen. We also tried to improve our comparison table in order to make it more readable and compact. Please let us know if you have any suggestions.
If you are fresh out of school, it is probably a good time to start applying for jobs. The later you wait, the harder it will be to find one.
what is a good salary in beijing
Beijing has one of the highest discrepancies between minimum wages and average wages. It is easy to understand, as the capital, Beijing attracts many executives and other high earning directors from international companies.
The average salary in Beijing is considerably high, currently at around RMB 9000, or slightly below USD 1350. I believe that average wages in Beijing tend to go up in the next years, considering the macro-economic factors.
salary in china for foreigners
Are you looking to get rich but missed the Bitcoin bandwagon? Don’t worry, there will always be new Ponzi schemes coming out. But if you’re looking to put in some hard work, you should most certainly consider a few of the best paid jobs in China for foreigners. If the US was the place to go to realise your (financial) dreams 120 years ago, then China is that place today. Let’s have a look at some the best paid jobs for foreigners in China.
It’s only fair to assume that most people want a job will a high salary, a comfortably decent societal status and job security. Therefore, it also stands to argue that the better the job, the more difficult it is to obtain. The best paid jobs for foreigners in China are undoubtedly doctors and lawyers, but we haven’t all done 10 years at university and passed the Bar.
What constitutes a successful job changes in different cultural contexts. If you’re a certified shaman (if such a thing exists) in Peru, you might be doing okay. But if you’re rocking the shaman-card to get free drinks in New York City, chances are you’re more likely to see the inside of a padded cell than a beer on the house.
With this harsh reality-check in mind, let’s take a look at the situation here in China. And as you might have guessed, shamans are largely out of fashion — you won’t find many listings for them on eChinaJobs.
Salary Vs Reality
If you’ve already got a job in China but think you’re due for a pay rise, read this for some tips on negotiating salary. If you’re planning on coming to China to work or thinking of changing careers, however, there are two things you might want to consider:
1. The salary and benefits (if any)
2. Your chances of obtaining the job
As the norm goes, the higher the salary, the more difficult it is to get the job. That’s usually because the higher salary is typically related to certain requirements, such as a good or very specialized academic degree, years of previous work experience or an impressive portfolio.
But in China in 2018, you might be pleased to hear that these two variables are not always correlative. Some jobs require little to no education or previous work experience but still come with salaries that rival many qualified positions.
Take a look at this scattergraph, where I’ve plotted jobs based on their average salary (X-axis) against their perceived obtainability (from 0 to 100 on the Y-axis). Listed in the scatter plot are 50 types of jobs commonly found on eChinaJobs, and some exceptional outliers, i.e. Kobe Bryant. Most of the data for the X-axis is taken from the listed salaries on eChinaJobs. The data for the Y-axis is based on the listed requirements of each job.
The teaching ticket
When going through the site, I found that for every job other than English teaching, there were up to 10 English teaching jobs available. There’s a massive need for English teachers in China, which in turn means teaching jobs in China are relatively easy to obtain. The competition to hire good teachers also inflates the salaries. In short, China is a good place to be an English teacher.
The graph shows us there is not always a direct correlation between obtainability and salary when it comes to jobs in China. For example, a sales development manager, which is a job that requires specialties and experience, can earn less than a kindergarten teacher, a job that is relatively easy to obtain.
In fact, I found the average salary for foreigners working in China is around 20,000 RMB per month, regardless of job. Whether you think this is a high or a low salary probably depends on where you’re coming from, your educational background and your expectations in China. Do keep in mind, however, that the taxes in China and the cost of living are lower than in most developed countries.
Perhaps the best line of work for foreigners in China — jobs that are relatively easy to obtain and come with a competitive salary (even by international standards) — is specialised teaching in public schools or taking a position within the school management, as a curriculum designer, or even as a principal, for example. These jobs, of course, will require experience in the field, but you can earn this by starting out as a regular teacher.
The average salary for specialised teachers and education managers in China ranges between 35,000 – 45,000 RMB and often comes with some pretty attractive benefits, such as bonuses and rent-free apartments.
Foreign expertise
By further examining the advertised positions on eChinaJobs, some other trends became visible to me. In general, jobs that require foreign experience and knowledge of the Western market and its inherent mechanisms, and in extension good multilingual language proficiency, are in high demand and therefore come with higher salaries. There are plenty on offer, although their numbers naturally pale in comparison to English teaching roles.
Tech crunch
Technical jobs, such as engineering, programming and general work in the technical field, however, are less in demand than they used to be. It stands to reason that China’s domestic workforce is just as skilled (perhaps even more so) in these roles. A Chinese worker may also settle for a lower salary than a foreigner, and hiring a Chinese person in a Chinese company in China is just so much easier than wading through the bureaucracy and red tape to employ someone from overseas.
The pinnacle
If you want to jump right into a high-paying, high-status job in China and perhaps even get that mythical Chinese green card, then you should focus on honing your basketball skills (and become the next Kobe Bryant) or coming up with a very creative business idea.
But being a successful entrepreneur in China is no easier than it is in the West. There may be many more possibilities, especially for startups, but navigating the inextricable Chinese regulations, and the very real possibility that you’re throwing all your capital into a black hole with Chinese characteristics, should be a cause for you to think twice before taking the plunge. Unsuccessful entrepreneurs are viewed with little clemency in the self-made-man paradise of modern China.