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Average Assistant Chief Engineer Salary in China for 2026

An assistant chief engineer in China earns about 357,300 CNY a year. That's 2% roughly in line with the national average of 351,900 CNY.

Pay ranges widely from country to country and from role to role. The lowest reported salaries in China sit around 172,200 CNY a year, while the very top stretches to 558,300 CNY. Everything on this page is in Chinese yuan (CNY, symbol ¥), which lets you compare numbers like-for-like without worrying about exchange rates.

The numbers here are pulled together from official government wage data, large independent salary surveys, and aggregated worker-reported pay. Most reported salaries include the benefits that are common in China, such as housing or transport allowances, which is worth keeping in mind if you're comparing against a country where those are usually paid on top.

How much does an assistant chief engineer make in China?

Average salary
357,300 CNY
29,775 CNY per month
Lowest reported
172,200 CNY
14,350 CNY per month
Highest reported
558,300 CNY
46,525 CNY per month

A typical assistant chief engineer working in China brings home around 29,775 CNY a month before tax. Entry-level pay starts near 172,200 CNY, and the top of the ladder reaches roughly 558,300 CNY for the most experienced and specialised people in the role.

The wide gap between low end and top end reflects how much pay can vary inside the same job title. A junior assistant chief engineer working at a small local employer earns very different money from a senior at a multinational. Skills, employer, city and years in the seat all push the number around.

How assistant chief engineer pay ranges in China

A good way to think about salary in China is to look at the distribution rather than the headline average. Half of all assistant chief engineers in China earn less than 369,300 CNY a year, and the other half earn more. That middle number is the median, and it is usually more useful than the average for answering "is my pay normal here".

Looking at the quartiles fills in the picture. A quarter of earners take home less than 243,000 CNY (the 25th percentile), and a quarter clear 483,800 CNY (the 75th percentile). The middle 50% of assistant chief engineers sit somewhere inside that band, which is where the typical reader of this page probably lives.

The very lowest reported salaries sit around 172,200 CNY. The highest stretch to 558,300 CNY, though only a small fraction of earners ever reach that level. If you are deciding whether your own offer or current pay is reasonable, work out which of those four bands you would fall into and use that as your reference point.

172,200
Low
369,300
Median
558,300
High
243,000
25th
483,800
75th
The middle 50% sit between the 25th and 75th percentile Tails are the lowest and highest reported All figures in CNY

Assistant chief engineer pay by experience in China

Years of experience is the single biggest lever on pay for an assistant chief engineer in China, ahead of education and almost any other single factor. The longer you have been in the role, the more your employer can trust you to handle complexity, mentor others and act independently, all of which command higher pay. The chart below shows how the typical assistant chief engineer salary changes as you move through the career ladder.

  • 0-2 Years
    200,000 CNY
  • 2-5 Years
    +41% from previous
    282,300 CNY
  • 5-10 Years
    +32% from previous
    372,600 CNY
  • 10-15 Years
    +23% from previous
    459,700 CNY
  • 15-20 Years
    +6% from previous
    487,600 CNY
  • 20+ Years
    +9% from previous
    533,000 CNY

The single largest jump on the ladder is from 0 - 2 Years to 2 - 5 Years, where pay rises by about 41%. That is the point at which a assistant chief engineer typically goes from "competent in the role" to "the person other people in the team learn from", and the market pays well for that step.

Assistant chief engineer pay by education in China

Education sits alongside experience as one of the biggest factors driving assistant chief engineer pay in China. Higher qualifications consistently pull higher salaries, but the size of the gap tends to be smallest at junior levels and widens as people move up. Two people in the same role with the same years of experience but different degrees can end up earning very different money once they reach mid-career.

Below is the average assistant chief engineer salary in China broken down by the highest level of education a worker has completed.

  • Bachelor's Degree
    315,700 CNY
  • Master's Degree
    +43% from previous
    450,300 CNY

Assistant chief engineer gender pay gap in China

The gender pay gap is a stubborn feature of almost every labour market, and China is no exception. Male assistant chief engineers in China earn an average of 371,100 CNY a year, while female assistant chief engineers earn around 349,300 CNY. That works out to a 6% gap in favour of men, even when comparing people doing the same work.

A pay gap of this size has a real long-term cost. Over a typical thirty-year career it can add up to several years of pay, and it compounds through pensions, retirement contributions and bonus-linked stock. Some of the gap is explained by women being more likely to work part-time, take career breaks, or be steered toward lower-paying specialisations. Some of it is straightforward unequal pay for the same job, which is harder to defend.

Assistant Chief Engineer gender pay gap

6%

Men earn this much more than women on average in China.

Men 371,100 CNY
Women 349,300 CNY

Pay raises for an assistant chief engineer in China

Most countries hand out at least some kind of pay raise every year, typically when an employee's contract is reviewed or as a cost-of-living adjustment to keep wages roughly in step with inflation. The rhythm and size of those raises varies hugely between industries.

A typical worker doing this role in China sees a raise of about 12% every 16 months, which works out to roughly 9% on an annual basis. That figure is the typical underlying rate; in years where inflation runs high you can usually expect a bit more, and in flat-economy years a bit less.

Across all jobs in China, the national average raise is around 9% every 15 months.

By industry

Industries with the highest pay raises in China:

  • Banking
  • Energy
  • Information Technology
  • Healthcare
  • Travel
  • Construction
  • Education
    2%

By experience level

Experienced workers tend to see larger raises. Retaining a senior is cheaper than replacing them, so employers fight harder for them.

  • Junior Level
    3% - 5%
  • Mid-Career
  • Senior Level
  • Top Management

Assistant chief engineer bonus rates in China

Bonuses are the other half of total compensation, and they vary a lot between jobs and industries. Some roles are paid almost entirely in base salary; others lean heavily on bonus structures tied to revenue, project completion or company performance. Whether a job pays a bonus, how big it is, and how often it lands all factor into whether the headline salary is actually a good offer.

58%

58% of assistant chief engineers in China reported a bonus of some kind in the past twelve months. That makes an assistant chief engineer a moderate-bonus role overall, which is useful context when you're weighing up a job offer where the base is below market.

Among those who did receive a bonus, the size of the payment varied substantially. Reported bonuses ranged from 3% to 6% of base salary. The remaining 42% of assistant chief engineers reported no bonus at all over the same period.

Which careers pay bonuses in China

Revenue-facing roles tend to pay the biggest bonuses. Operational and support roles tend toward smaller, more predictable ones.

  • Finance
  • Architecture
  • Sales
  • Business Development
  • Marketing / Advertising
  • Information Technology
  • Healthcare
  • Insurance
  • Customer Service
  • Human Resources
  • Construction
  • Transport
  • Hospitality

Assistant chief engineer: public vs private sector pay

Public-sector pay in China is about 6% more than private-sector pay for similar work. The private sector typically offers stronger upside and bigger bonuses; the public sector typically offers better benefits and stability.

Public vs private pay gap

6%

Public-sector workers earn this much more than private-sector workers in China on average.

Public sector 362,200 CNY
Private sector 341,400 CNY

Assistant chief engineer salary by city and region in China

Assistant chief engineer pay is not even across China. The chart below shows the highest-paying cities and regions in the dataset, followed by the full location table.

  • Guangzhou
  • Chongqing (city)
  • Shandong
  • Henan
  • Guangdong
  • Wuhan
  • Beijing (city)
  • Hunan
  • Hebei
  • Anhui
LocationTypeAverageMedianRange
GuangzhouCity398,300 CNY413,900 CNY192,000-625,000 CNY
Chongqing (city)City394,300 CNY428,400 CNY183,600-627,900 CNY
ShandongRegion392,300 CNY362,200 CNY210,500-592,200 CNY
HenanRegion390,000 CNY397,900 CNY192,600-612,500 CNY
GuangdongRegion389,200 CNY372,600 CNY204,700-596,100 CNY
WuhanCity389,200 CNY389,200 CNY194,600-602,700 CNY
Beijing (city)City389,200 CNY389,200 CNY194,600-602,700 CNY
HunanRegion381,800 CNY352,000 CNY204,000-575,100 CNY
HebeiRegion378,300 CNY354,000 CNY200,000-575,100 CNY
AnhuiRegion377,200 CNY353,600 CNY197,600-571,300 CNY
ChengduCity377,200 CNY354,000 CNY200,000-573,500 CNY
ZhejiangRegion377,200 CNY397,900 CNY175,900-596,100 CNY
Shanghai (city)City376,800 CNY376,800 CNY189,300-582,700 CNY
JinanCity375,200 CNY361,600 CNY194,600-573,500 CNY
GuangxiRegion375,200 CNY375,200 CNY187,300-580,600 CNY
Tianjin (city)City371,100 CNY378,800 CNY183,600-581,300 CNY
HangzhouCity369,900 CNY340,400 CNY197,600-556,000 CNY
JiangsuRegion369,900 CNY354,000 CNY192,600-565,100 CNY
SichuanRegion369,300 CNY385,300 CNY175,900-582,700 CNY
ShenyangCity367,900 CNY394,500 CNY169,000-582,700 CNY
HarbinCity366,200 CNY351,900 CNY192,000-559,000 CNY
NanjingCity361,500 CNY354,000 CNY185,100-558,300 CNY
Xi anCity361,500 CNY390,000 CNY168,100-574,200 CNY
JiangxiRegion361,500 CNY361,500 CNY181,600-563,000 CNY
LiaoningRegion361,500 CNY390,000 CNY168,100-574,200 CNY
ShaanxiRegion357,300 CNY378,300 CNY167,100-562,600 CNY
HeilongjiangRegion354,000 CNY349,300 CNY181,600-548,800 CNY
HubeiRegion353,600 CNY376,800 CNY168,100-558,300 CNY
YunnanRegion352,000 CNY357,700 CNY172,200-545,300 CNY
SuzhouCity351,900 CNY371,100 CNY164,200-555,800 CNY
WenzhouCity351,900 CNY359,900 CNY172,400-548,500 CNY
ShenzhenCity349,300 CNY361,500 CNY168,100-545,300 CNY
ShantouCity341,400 CNY327,800 CNY175,900-524,400 CNY
FujianRegion340,000 CNY359,900 CNY159,400-535,800 CNY
ShanxiRegion339,100 CNY339,100 CNY167,100-520,900 CNY
Chongqing (region)Region332,100 CNY340,400 CNY161,600-522,700 CNY
QingdaoCity332,100 CNY361,600 CNY152,300-529,600 CNY
GansuRegion330,700 CNY301,700 CNY175,900-499,300 CNY
Shanghai (region)Region330,700 CNY315,900 CNY172,200-504,500 CNY
GuizhouRegion327,800 CNY340,400 CNY158,700-514,300 CNY
DongguanCity322,600 CNY308,300 CNY167,100-493,000 CNY
KunmingCity322,600 CNY312,400 CNY167,100-492,700 CNY
ChangchunCity317,700 CNY317,700 CNY159,400-492,700 CNY
WuxiCity315,700 CNY301,600 CNY161,600-480,300 CNY
ChangshaCity314,500 CNY332,500 CNY148,300-496,100 CNY
HainanRegion314,500 CNY340,000 CNY142,300-499,300 CNY
JilinRegion313,700 CNY327,300 CNY152,100-496,100 CNY
Nei MonggolRegion311,700 CNY294,700 CNY164,200-472,100 CNY
Tianjin (region)Region309,800 CNY332,500 CNY142,300-489,500 CNY
NingxiaRegion308,900 CNY301,300 CNY158,700-472,100 CNY
DalianCity308,300 CNY335,100 CNY143,200-493,000 CNY
QuanzhouCity305,600 CNY330,700 CNY138,800-485,200 CNY
FuzhouCity305,600 CNY312,400 CNY150,000-475,700 CNY
FoshanCity301,700 CNY301,700 CNY152,000-472,100 CNY
XiamenCity301,300 CNY294,700 CNY152,300-464,400 CNY
Xinjiang UygurRegion301,300 CNY282,300 CNY159,400-457,300 CNY
Beijing (region)Region296,000 CNY288,700 CNY152,100-454,900 CNY
Xizang [Tibet]Region296,000 CNY288,700 CNY152,100-454,900 CNY
QinghaiRegion288,700 CNY296,000 CNY143,200-454,300 CNY
ZhengzhouCity282,500 CNY282,500 CNY143,200-440,200 CNY

Assistant Chief Engineer in China: FAQs

  • How much does an assistant chief engineer make per month in China?

    An assistant chief engineer in China earns about 29,775 CNY a month before tax, based on an annual average of 357,300 CNY.

  • What's the salary range for an assistant chief engineer in China?

    Entry-level assistant chief engineers in China start near 172,200 CNY. Top-end pay reaches around 558,300 CNY. The middle 50% of earners sit between 243,000 and 483,800 CNY.

  • Is the median assistant chief engineer salary in China higher or lower than the average?

    The median is 369,300 CNY, higher than the average of 357,300 CNY. Half of assistant chief engineers in China earn below the median, half earn above it.

  • What's the gender pay gap for assistant chief engineers in China?

    Men working as an assistant chief engineer in China earn around 6% more than women on average (371,100 vs 349,300 CNY a year).

  • Do assistant chief engineers in China get bonuses?

    About 58% of assistant chief engineers in China reported a bonus in the past 12 months. Reported bonuses ranged from 3% to 6% of base salary.

  • Do assistant chief engineers earn more in the public or private sector in China?

    In China, the public sector pays an assistant chief engineer about 6% more on average. Public-sector pay tends to be steadier; private-sector pay tends to offer bigger upside.

  • How often do assistant chief engineers in China get a pay raise?

    An assistant chief engineer in China sees a raise of around 12% every 16 months, equivalent to roughly 9% a year.