Shenzhen has become an economic powerhouse, keeping a firm grip on the top spot of average salary levels on the mainland, according to an industry survey.
Shenzhen's white-collar workers had an average yearly income of 50,254 yuan (about HK$47,488) last year, well ahead of other major cities, said online job placement firm ChinaHR.com. Shenzhen also ranked first when the survey was last taken six months ago but the average white-collar income for the city then stood at 51,790 yuan.
Shanghai ranked second, followed by Beijing and then Guangzhou. ChinaHR gave no breakdown of the three cities, saying only that all were above 43,000 yuan. The company did not provide details of how it conducted the survey or the sample size.
The eastern port city of Tianjin was ranked fifth after seeing average pay jump 21.9 per cent to 36,117 yuan from 29,627 yuan in the earlier survey. There was no explanation for the increase.
ChinaHR, set up in 1997 and headquartered in Beijing, reported that Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Shenyang and Wuhan all saw drops in salaries, but the report did not give absolute figures for incomes or an explanation for the declines.
When ranked according to sectors, workers in telecommunications headed the survey with an average pay level of 57,208 yuan a rise of 5.8 per cent. In second place were those in the food, beverage and tobacco sector, who earned an average of 48,769 yuan.
