A new report on urban incomes in China from tech giant Tencent indicates that Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are home to the most richly remunerated workers.
The “2019 National Citizens Wage Report” (2019国人工资报告) released by Tencent’s online wealth management vehicle Licaitong (理财通) indicates Shanghai is the Chinese city with the highest share of workers earning more than 10,000 yuan (approx. USD$1485) a month at 35.09%.
Beijing is second with 35.07% of workers above the 10,000 yuan threshold, while Shenzhen is third at 26.91%, Nanjing fourth at 19.37%, followed by Hangzhou (18.6%) and Guangzhou (14.74%).
All three cities benefit from their status as finance, tech and fintech hubs, while Beijing incomes are also boosted by the city’s status as the country’s political centre and home to key state-owned enterprises.
The report further indicates that workers earning 5000 – 8000 yuan a month accounted for a sizeable chunk of survey respondents in most major Chinese cities, at 28.59% in Shanghai, 24.32% in Beijing, 29.57% in Shenzhen, 29% in Guangzhou, 33.68% in Hangzhou and 28.38% in Nanjing.
66.2% of survey respondents said that their current salaries were beneath expectations, while only 4% said they were above expectations.
