The latest official data indicates that the total number of people employed in China rose above 776 million by the end of last year.
The “2017 Human Resources and Social Security Development Statistical Report” (2017年度人力资源和社会保障事业发展统计公报) released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on 21 May indicates that as of the end of 2017 the total number of people employed in China was 776.40 million, for an increase of 370,000 compared to the end of the preceding year.
Urban employees totalled 424.61 million, for a year-on-year increase of 10.34 million.
27% of Chinese employees work in primary industry, 28.1% in secondary industry, and 44.9% in tertiary industry.
Salary levels have also risen in tandem with the growth in total employment according to government data.
In 2017 the average salary for urban non-private-entity employees in China was 74,318 yuan, for an increase of 6749 yuan, or 10%, compared to the preceding year.
The average salary for urban private-entity employees in China was 45,761 yuan, for an increase of 2928 yuan, or 6.8%, compared to the preceding year.
In terms of educational qualifications, as of the end of 2017 China had a total of 26.2 million people who had obtained some form of professional technical qualification, and over16.6 million who had obtained qualifications under the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
3.132 million Chinese who have pursued studies overseas have returned to China, with 480,900 returning in 2017 alone.
