New graduates not in ICT sector face low salary growth

The average income of a college graduate from China’s class of 2022 grew by just 3% in 2022, a far cry from the 7% increase witnessed in 2021, reports the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

The silver lining for students, however, lies in the surge of opportunities for graduates in the information and communications technologies (ICT) fields in the tech-heavy Yangtze River Delta region. The data point to an ongoing sectoral shift – guided by China’s national strategies and industrial needs – which, in turn, is pushing educational institutions in the country away from fine arts and law, for example, and towards science and technology.

On 9 June, Mycos, a Chinese state-affiliated higher education consulting firm, released its 2023 Chinese 4-year College Graduates’ Employment Annual Report. The study found that, on average, a new university graduate in 2022 earned CNY5,990 (US$834) per month. Of all graduates who earned a bachelor degree in 2022, 6.9% made a starting monthly salary of more than CNY10,000, while the majority – 57.7% – made less than CNY6,000. When comparing across different regions, the average graduate with a job in eastern China made the most – CNY6,578 – per month, compared to CNY4,959 per month in northeastern China.
Full report on the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada site