Expat Wages in China

It's far more difficult to provide a "average" compensation for expatriate employees in China. Foreigners employed by firms in China are referred to as "expat workers." Earning potential as an expat is highly conditional on factors such as education, work experience, and language proficiency. This article contains our opinions on the Chinese job market and salary expectations for foreigners:

Over the last decade, the industry has shifted due to the increased expertise of local Chinese college grads. The cost of hiring an expat has gone down and the quality of work has gone up, yet many middle-level roles that used to be handled by foreigners can now be done just as well by domestic workers.

Foreign and local businesses continue to frequently recruit expats for positions that need specialized knowledge or experience.

The ability to speak Mandarin Chinese and previous job experience in China are additional factors that raise an expat's salary.

The salaries provided to foreign nationals relocating to China are often substantially greater than the salaries paid to foreign nationals working locally.

Benefits and total remuneration packages need to be examined since they are typically far more complete than would be supplied to a local employee. Offering benefits to expats such as health insurance, housing subsidies, and maybe even inclusion for family living, insurance, and education can be rather expensive.

Note that different perks (including housing) may be granted free from Income Tax. For further information, see our dedicated page.

Referring to real expat incomes, statistics from twobirds.com revealed the news that expats would cease benefitting from tax savings on costs in December 2023. One of the primary reasons why non-Chinese citizens are eligible for tax benefits.

Other general data on immigrant earnings in China:

Salaries at the lower end of about 19k to 28k US$ for English instructors in China, or front office/account senior manager responsibilities in sales, marketing or communications of 32k to 44k US$.

A human resources manager with six years of experience or more may expect to earn $50,000 per year, while a sales and marketing manager with the same amount of experience can expect to earn $38,000 to $84,000.

A Chief Financial Officer may make up to $240,000 per year, a seasoned attorney up to $205,000 per year, and a Managing Director of Sales and Marketing more than $315,000 per year.

It is also interesting for corporations to realize that expat earnings in China are amongst the highest in Asia. After Japan and India, China ranks third in the area for total expat pay packages at the mid-manager level, coming in at little under $280,000 in May 2018 (according to a poll by ECA International). This is notably a decline from the levels they cited in 2016 and 2017 (when China was second highest) (when China was second highest).

We hope that this post helps you to explain some elements of salaries in China. These are the primary issues that must be addressed by any foreign firm before to, and during, its operations in China. Understanding the regulations and market realities pertaining to labor expenses as soon as feasible is crucial, since they will make up a significant portion of many businesses' budgets.