Salaries in China's first-tier cities are substantially more than those in second and third tier cities; the finance and real-estate industries are most likely to offer high-paying jobs; salaries in the finance industry are more than 10 times average pay; the income gap between executives and junior staff has reached a factor of 100; all of this according to a newly released survey - China salary insight 2013.

The survey, conducted jointly by Bridge HR and CEIBS Business Review, targeted China's 17 large- and medium-sized cities, covering 10 major industries such as finance, property, and information technology, and interviewing both senior and junior staff.

The survey reports five features:

● China's first-tier cities offer much higher salaries than second- and third- tier cities.

Annual salary ranking of first-tier cities: Shanghai (72300 yuan), Shenzhen (72000 yuan), Beijing (66700 yuan), and Guangzhou (66100 yuan);

East China's cities pay the second highest salaries:, Hangzhou (64200 yuan), Jiangsu (61100 yuan), Nanjing (58700 yuan) show a strong economic momentum, closing with the first tier cities;

Wuhan (43902 yuan), due to its geographical advantages and convenient transportation, pays the highest salary among other central and west Chinese cities.

● A few industries pay higher than average salaries

Annual salaries in the finance and real-estate industries are much higher than the average. In the 17 targeted cities, the average annual salary in the finance industry is 50905 yuan, which is 10.5 times the social average salary (48537 yuan) announced in 2012.

● Clear differences in salary between different functional departments

Salary at management level or above from different functional departments show clear disparities, employees in technology or research & development departments earn the most money at 264800 yuan.

● Big gap between executives and junior staff

Management-level salaries are far more than junior staff, especially in the financial sector - the income gap between executives and junior staff has reached a factor of almost 100.

● Government's "income-doubling" program will be achieved in 6 years

If salary growth continues at its current rate, China will achieve its “income doubling program” in 6 years.

(Note: 100 yuan =16 USD)

The article is edited and translated from 《2013中国薪酬状况：金融业工资为平均水平十倍》, source: China Daily Website