Beijing tops annual average salary rankings in China

Beijing topped the annual average salary rankings in China in both the nonprivate and private sectors in 2019, according to the 21st Century Business Herald on Tuesday.

The herald came to the conclusion based on the latest average wages released by 26 province-level statistics bureaus as of Tuesday.

Beijing recorded its annual average salaries at 166,803 yuan ($23,769.43) in the nonprivate sector and 85,262 yuan in the private sector in 2019. Additionally, Beijing saw growth rates increase in both the nonprivate and private sectors.

In terms of nonprivate sectors, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Jiangsu saw their annual average salaries surpass the nation's average level of 90,501 yuan. For private sectors, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Zhejiang and Chongqing were higher than the country's average salary of 53,604 yuan.

The average salary typically has a bias distribution in China. A few high-salary regions pulled up the country's average line significantly.

Generally speaking, average salaries in East, West, Central and Northeast China are in a descending order.

In terms of industries, information technology has topped the rankings for four consecutive years with an average annual salary of over 160,000 yuan in 2019.

Currently, the three industries with the highest salaries in the nonprivate sectors are IT at 161,352 yuan, scientific research and technological services at 133,459 yuan, and finance at 131,405 yuan. They are respectively 1.78 times, 1.47 times and 1.45 times as high as the country's average salary.

The three industries with the lowest salaries are agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery at 39,340 yuan; hotel and catering at 50,346 yuan; and repairing and other services at 60,232 yuan. They are respectively 43 percent, 56 percent and 67 percent as high as the country's average.