Developer / Programmer Average Salary in China 2024
How much money does a person working as Developer / Programmer make in China?
LOW
13,100
CNY AVERAGE
28,600
CNY HIGH
45,400
CNY
A person working as Developer / Programmer in China typically earns around 28,600 CNY. Salaries range from 13,100 CNY (lowest) to 45,400 CNY (highest).
Salary Variance
This is the average salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Developer / Programmer salaries in China vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location. Below you will find a detailed breakdown based on many different criteria.
Developer / Programmer Pay Scale and Salaries in China
Salary Structure and Pay Scale Comparison
27,100 CNY or more
23,700 to 27,100 CNY
16,300 CNY or less
16,300 to 23,700 CNY
 13,100 CNY |
27,300 CNY |
45,400 CNY |
Median Salary, maximum and minimum salary, minimum wage, starting salary, and the salary range
Salary Range, Minimum Wage, and Starting Salary
Salaries for the position Developer / Programmer in China range from 13,100 CNY (starting salary) to 45,400 CNY (maximum salary). It should be noted that the given figure is not the legally mandated minimum wage; rather, it represents the lowest figure reported in a salary survey that included thousands of participants and professionals from all regions of the country.
Median Salary
With a median salary of 27,300 CNY, half of the professionals who work as Developer / Programmer in China earn less than this amount, and the other half earn more. The median salary denotes the middle value of salaries. Ideally, you would want to belong to the group earning more than the median salary, located on the right side of the salary distribution graph.
Percentiles and Salary Scale
The median is closely associated with two other values known as the 25th and 75th percentiles. By examining the salary distribution chart, it can be determined that 25% of professionals employed as Developer / Programmer in China earn less than 22,000 CNY, while 75% earn more. Similarly, the chart shows that 75% earn less than 31,500 CNY while 25% earn more.
Pay Scale Structure
To provide a better understanding of expected salaries, we categorized the frequently occurring salaries into different ranges. This approach provides a more precise representation of salary distribution for the job title Developer / Programmer in China compared to simply calculating the average. The majority of reported salaries, approximately 65%, fall within the range of 16,300 CNY to 23,700 CNY. About 20% of salaries are below the 16,300 CNY mark, while 10% fall within the range of 23,700 CNY to 27,100 CNY. Only 5% of individuals have salaries exceeding 27,100 CNY.
Salary Comparison by Years of Experience / Developer / Programmer / China
How do experience and age affect pay?
| 0 - 2 Years | 14,900 CNY | |
| 2 - 5 Years | +34% | 19,900 CNY |
| 5 - 10 Years | +48% | 29,400 CNY |
| 10 - 15 Years | +22% | 35,900 CNY |
| 15 - 20 Years | +9% | 39,100 CNY |
| 20+ Years | +8% | 42,300 CNY |
The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally, the more years of experience the higher the wage. We broke down salaries by experience level for people working as Developer / Programmer and this is what we found.
Employees with less than two years of experience earn approximately 14,900 CNY.
While someone with an experience level between two and five years is expected to earn 19,900 CNY, 34% more than someone with less than two year's experience.
Moving forward, an experience level between five and ten years lands a salary of 29,400 CNY, 48% more than someone with two to five years of experience.
Additionally, professionals whose expertise span anywhere between ten and fifteen years get a salary equivalent to 35,900 CNY, 22% more than someone with five to ten years of experience.
If the experience level is between fifteen and twenty years, then the expected wage is 39,100 CNY, 9% more than someone with ten to fifteen years of experience.
Lastly, employees with more than twenty years of professional experience get a salary of 42,300 CNY, 8% more than people with fifteen to twenty years of experience.
Typical Salary Progress for Most Careers
Salary Comparison By Education / Developer / Programmer / China
How do education levels affect salaries?
Displayed below is the average salary variance between different education levels of professionals working as Developer / Programmer.
| Certificate or Diploma | 17,000 CNY | |
| Bachelor's Degree | +57% | 26,700 CNY |
| Master's Degree | +68% | 44,800 CNY |
We all know that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We broke down salaries by education level for the position Developer / Programmer in order to make a comparison.
Level 1: Certificate or Diploma
Employees at this education level have an average salary of 17,000 CNY.
Level 2: Bachelor's Degree
At this level, the average salary becomes 26,700 CNY, 57% more than the previous level.
Level 3: Master's Degree
At this level, the average salary becomes 44,800 CNY, 68% more than the previous level.
Is a Master's degree or an MBA worth it? Should you pursue higher education?
A Master's degree program or any post-graduate program in China costs anywhere from 147,000 CNY to 441,000 CNY and lasts approximately two years. That is quite an investment.
You can't really expect any salary increases during the study period, assuming you already have a job. In most cases, a salary review is conducted once education is completed and the degree has been attained.
Many people pursue higher education as a tactic to switch to a higher-paying job. The numbers seem to support the theory. The average increase in compensation while changing jobs is approximately 10% more than the customary salary increment.
If you can afford the costs of higher education, the return on investment is definitely worth it. You should be able to recover the costs in roughly a year or so.
Typical Salary Difference by Education for Most Careers
Salary and Compensation Comparison By Gender / Developer / Programmer / China
Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? For the people who work as Developer / Programmer in China, the average difference between the salary of male and female employees is 13%.
| Male | 30,300 CNY | |
| Female | -12% | 26,800 CNY |
Salary Comparison By Gender in China for all Careers
Average Annual Salary Increment Percentage / Developer / Programmer / China
How much are annual salary increments in China for individuals working as Developer / Programmer? How often do employees get salary raises?
Individuals working as Developer / Programmer in China are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 12% every 17 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 9% granted to employees every 15 months.
China / All Professions
The term Annual Salary Increase usually refers to the increase in 12 calendar month period, but because it is rare that people get their salaries reviewed exactly on the one-year mark, it is more meaningful to know the frequency and the rate at the time of the increase.
How to calculate the salary increment percentage?
The annual salary Increase in a calendar year (12 months) can be easily calculated as follows: Annual Salary Increase = Increase Rate x 12 / Increase Frequency
Worldwide Salary Raises: All Countries and All Jobs
Salary Packages and Schemes
Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.
Bonus and Incentive Rates / Developer / Programmer / China
How much and how often are bonuses being awarded?
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40% of surveyed staff reported that they haven't received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 60% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.
Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 2% to 7% of their annual salary.
| Received Bonus | 60% | |
| No Bonus | 40% |
Types of Bonuses Considered
Individual Performance-Based BonusesThe most standard form of bonus, where the employee is awarded based on their exceptional performance.
Company Performance BonusesOccasionally, some companies like to celebrate excess earnings and profits with their staff collectively in the form of bonuses that are granted to everyone. The amount of the bonus will probably be different from person to person depending on their role within the organization.
Goal-Based BonusesGranted upon achieving an important goal or milestone.
Holiday / End of Year BonusesThese types of bonuses are given without a reason and usually resemble an appreciation token.
Bonuses Are Not Commissions!
People tend to confuse bonuses with commissions. A commission is a prefixed rate at which someone gets paid for items sold or deals completed while a bonus is in most cases arbitrary and unplanned.
What makes a position worthy of good bonuses and a high salary?
The main two types of jobs | |
| Revenue Generators | Supporting Cast |
Employees that are directly involved in generating revenue or profit for the organization. Their field of expertise usually matches the type of business. | Employees that support and facilitate the work of revenue generators. Their expertise is usually different from that of the core business operations. |
Example: | Example: |
Revenue generators usually get more and higher bonuses, higher salaries, and more frequent salary increments. The reason is quite simple: it is easier to quantify your value to the company in monetary terms when you participate in revenue generation.
Bonus Comparison by Seniority Level
Top management personnel and senior employees naturally exhibit higher bonus rates and frequencies than juniors. This is very predictable due to the inherent responsibilities of being higher in the hierarchy. People in top positions can easily get double or triple bonus rates than employees down the pyramid.
Average Hourly Wage / Developer / Programmer / China
160 CNY per hourThe average hourly wage (pay per hour) for individuals working as Developer / Programmer in China is 160 CNY.This is the rate they get paid for every worked hour.
About The Hourly Pay Rate
The hourly wage is the salary paid in one worked hour. Usually, jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs. Salaried jobs pay a fixed amount regardless of the hours worked. Hourly jobs pay per worked hour. To convert salary into hourly wage the above formula is used (assuming 5 working days in a week and 8 working hours per day which is the standard for most jobs). The hourly wage calculation may differ slightly depending on the worked hours per week and the annual vacation allowance. The figures mentioned above are good approximations and are considered to be the standard. One major difference between salaried employees and hourly paid employees is overtime eligibility. Salaried employees are usually exempt from overtime as opposed to hourly paid staff.
What is the minimum hourly rate of pay?
The minimum pay rate per hour for people working as Developer / Programmer in China is 76 CNY. This is the minimum as per the gathered data in the salary survey not the minimum hourly rate mandated by law.
Salary comparison with similar jobs
| Job Title | Average Salary |
| Information Technology |  -100% | |
| ABAP Developer | 24,600 CNY | -14% |
| Android Developer | 28,700 CNY |  +0% |
| Angular Developer | 24,800 CNY | -13% |
| Angular JS Programmer | 26,600 CNY | -7% |
| Application Developer | 27,300 CNY | -4% |
| AS400 Programmer | 28,200 CNY | -1% |
| Assembly Developer | 31,100 CNY | +9% |
| Avaloq Developer | 25,800 CNY | -10% |
| Back End Developer | 27,500 CNY | -4% |
| BizTalk Developer | 29,900 CNY | +5% |
| Build and Release Engineer | 24,800 CNY | -13% |
| Business Intelligence Developer | 29,800 CNY | +4% |
| Business Objects Developer | 25,900 CNY | -9% |
| C Developer | 31,800 CNY | +11% |
| C# Developer | 30,900 CNY | +8% |
| C++ Developer | 29,400 CNY | +3% |
| Chatbot Developer | 25,900 CNY | -9% |
| Clojure Developer | 34,200 CNY | +20% |
| CMS Developer | 22,700 CNY | -21% |
| Computer Programmer | 28,400 CNY | -1% |
| Curam Developer | 24,500 CNY | -14% |
| Dart Developer | 21,900 CNY | -23% |
| Delphi Developer | 31,000 CNY | +9% |
| Developer / Programmer | 28,600 CNY | +0% |
| Developer Evangelist | 28,800 CNY | +1% |
| DevOps Engineer | 29,800 CNY | +4% |
| Django Specialist | 27,900 CNY | -2% |
| Driver Developer | 28,700 CNY | +0% |
| Elixir Developer | 34,900 CNY | +22% |
| Embedded Software Developer | 28,500 CNY | -0% |
| Erlang Developer | 34,600 CNY | +21% |
| Flash Developer | 25,600 CNY | -10% |
| Front End Developer | 24,400 CNY | -15% |
| Front End Web Developer | 24,600 CNY | -14% |
| Full Stack Developer | 29,500 CNY | +3% |
| Game Developer | 25,500 CNY | -11% |
| GIS Developer | 27,600 CNY | -3% |
| Go Developer | 34,900 CNY | +22% |
| Graphical User Interface ( GUI ) Programmer | 24,600 CNY | -14% |
| Graphics Programmer | 25,000 CNY | -12% |
| Groovy Developer | 31,900 CNY | +12% |
| Haskell Developer | 31,400 CNY | +10% |
| Imaging Programmer | 25,700 CNY | -10% |
| Information Systems Developer | 25,400 CNY | -11% |
| IOS Developer | 30,100 CNY | +5% |
| Java Developer | 30,000 CNY | +5% |
| Javascript Developer | 27,700 CNY | -3% |
| jQuery Specialist | 27,200 CNY | -5% |
| Kotlin Developer | 32,700 CNY | +14% |
| Laravel Specialist | 28,000 CNY | -2% |
| Lead Developer | 32,600 CNY | +14% |
| Lisp Developer | 37,800 CNY | +32% |
| Lua Developer | 32,300 CNY | +13% |
| MATLAB Developer | 31,200 CNY | +9% |
| Mobile Developer | 29,000 CNY | +2% |
| Multimedia Developer | 25,400 CNY | -11% |
| NextJs Specialist | 25,900 CNY | -9% |
| Nodejs Developer | 28,800 CNY | +1% |
| Objective-C Developer | 33,700 CNY | +18% |
| Oracle Developer | 30,600 CNY | +7% |
| Perl Developer | 23,300 CNY | -18% |
| PHP Developer | 25,500 CNY | -11% |
| PowerShell Developer | 27,500 CNY | -4% |
| Python Developer | 28,700 CNY | +0% |
| R Language Developer | 33,700 CNY | +18% |
| React Specialist | 30,400 CNY | +6% |
| Remedy Developer | 23,700 CNY | -17% |
| Robotic Process Automation Developer | 22,400 CNY | -22% |
| Ruby Developer | 25,200 CNY | -12% |
| Rust Developer | 33,700 CNY | +18% |
| Salesforce Developer | 22,500 CNY | -21% |
| SAS Programmer | 26,700 CNY | -7% |
| Scala Developer | 37,000 CNY | +30% |
| Sharepoint Developer | 31,100 CNY | +9% |
| Software Developer | 27,400 CNY | -4% |
| Software Development Manager | 36,600 CNY | +28% |
| Software QA Engineer | 26,600 CNY | -7% |
| Software Test Engineer | 23,700 CNY | -17% |
| Swift Developer | 32,100 CNY | +12% |
| Teradata Developer | 23,200 CNY | -19% |
| TIBCO Developer | 24,000 CNY | -16% |
| TypeScript Developer | 31,900 CNY | +12% |
| UI Engineer | 26,400 CNY | -8% |
| User Experience Designer | 24,900 CNY | -13% |
| VB Developer | 20,900 CNY | -27% |
| VB.NET Developer | 28,900 CNY | +1% |
| Visual Basic Developer | 22,800 CNY | -20% |
| VueJs Specialist | 28,800 CNY | +1% |
| WordPress Specialist | 28,100 CNY | -2% |
| Zig Developer | 38,100 CNY | +33% |
Salary Comparison By City
| City | Average Salary |
Government vs Private Sector Salary Comparison
Where can you get paid more, working in a private company or the government? The difference between the public or government sector salaries and the private sector salaries in China is 6% on average across all career fields.
| Private Sector | 28,600 CNY | |
| Public Sector | +6% | 30,300 CNY |
Salary Statistics and Calculation Guide
What is considered to be a good and competitive salary for the job title Developer / Programmer in China?
A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 27,300 CNY and 31,500 CNY. This is a very rough estimate. Experience and education play a very huge part in the final earnings.
Gross Salary (before tax) and Net Salary (after tax)
All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salary after tax for every career.
Base / Basic Salary
The base salary for a careers like Developer / Programmer in China ranges from 13,100 CNY to 22,000 CNY. The base salary depends on many factors including experience and education. It is not easy to provide a figure with very little information, so take this range with a grain of salt.
What is the difference between the median and the average salary?
Both are indicators. If your salary is higher than both the average and the median then you are doing very well. If your salary is lower than both, then many people earn more than you and there is plenty of room for improvement. If your wage is between the average and the median, then things can be a bit complicated. We wrote a guide to explain all about the different scenarios. How to compare your salary
