Average Packer Salary in China for 2026
A packer in China earns about 97,760 CNY a year. That's 72% below 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 47,760 CNY a year, while the very top stretches to 152,000 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 a packer make in China?
A typical packer working in China brings home around 8,146 CNY a month before tax. Entry-level pay starts near 47,760 CNY, and the top of the ladder reaches roughly 152,000 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 packer 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 packer 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 packers in China earn less than 99,220 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 68,060 CNY (the 25th percentile), and a quarter clear 130,400 CNY (the 75th percentile). The middle 50% of packers sit somewhere inside that band, which is where the typical reader of this page probably lives.
The very lowest reported salaries sit around 47,760 CNY. The highest stretch to 152,000 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.
Packer pay by experience in China
Years of experience is the single biggest lever on pay for a packer 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 packer salary changes as you move through the career ladder.
- 0-2 Years52,880 CNY
- 2-5 Years+49% from previous78,960 CNY
- 5-10 Years+29% from previous102,020 CNY
- 10-15 Years+22% from previous124,400 CNY
- 15-20 Years+8% from previous134,600 CNY
- 20+ Years+9% from previous146,200 CNY
The single largest jump on the ladder is from 0 - 2 Years to 2 - 5 Years, where pay rises by about 49%. That is the point at which a packer 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.
Packer pay by education in China
Education sits alongside experience as one of the biggest factors driving packer 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 packer salary in China broken down by the highest level of education a worker has completed.
- High School72,260 CNY
- Certificate or Diploma+77% from previous127,700 CNY
Packer gender pay gap in China
The gender pay gap is a stubborn feature of almost every labour market, and China is no exception. Male packers in China earn an average of 102,460 CNY a year, while female packers earn around 95,860 CNY. That works out to a 7% 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.
Packer gender pay gap
6%
Men earn this much more than women on average in China.
Pay raises for a packer 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 9% every 16 months, which works out to roughly 7% 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
- Education2%
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 Level3% - 5%
- Mid-Career
- Senior Level
- Top Management
Packer 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.
32% of packers in China reported a bonus of some kind in the past twelve months. That makes a packer a low-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 0% to 4% of base salary. The remaining 68% of packers 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
Packer: 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.
Packer salary by city and region in China
Packer 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.
- Shandong
- Guangzhou
- Henan
- Guangdong
- Chongqing (city)
- Wuhan
- Hunan
- Hangzhou
- Beijing (city)
- Jiangsu
| Location | Type | Average | Median | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shandong | Region | 116,180 CNY | 105,440 CNY | 61,620-174,000 CNY |
| Guangzhou | City | 116,180 CNY | 119,900 CNY | 54,500-183,600 CNY |
| Henan | Region | 113,420 CNY | 115,400 CNY | 55,320-175,900 CNY |
| Guangdong | Region | 113,280 CNY | 109,740 CNY | 58,860-172,400 CNY |
| Chongqing (city) | City | 112,280 CNY | 119,700 CNY | 52,540-175,900 CNY |
| Wuhan | City | 111,920 CNY | 111,920 CNY | 57,360-172,400 CNY |
| Hunan | Region | 111,920 CNY | 104,040 CNY | 61,400-167,100 CNY |
| Hangzhou | City | 111,000 CNY | 104,600 CNY | 58,800-169,000 CNY |
| Beijing (city) | City | 110,120 CNY | 110,120 CNY | 53,320-169,000 CNY |
| Jiangsu | Region | 109,740 CNY | 102,620 CNY | 55,580-164,200 CNY |
| Chengdu | City | 109,460 CNY | 101,960 CNY | 58,240-167,100 CNY |
| Guangxi | Region | 108,800 CNY | 106,820 CNY | 53,160-167,100 CNY |
| Hebei | Region | 108,340 CNY | 103,840 CNY | 57,620-168,100 CNY |
| Sichuan | Region | 107,900 CNY | 113,420 CNY | 52,380-172,400 CNY |
| Tianjin (city) | City | 107,880 CNY | 110,340 CNY | 54,460-172,200 CNY |
| Nanjing | City | 107,680 CNY | 102,620 CNY | 55,220-161,600 CNY |
| Liaoning | Region | 107,680 CNY | 113,700 CNY | 48,640-169,000 CNY |
| Jiangxi | Region | 107,680 CNY | 107,680 CNY | 53,840-163,800 CNY |
| Anhui | Region | 106,980 CNY | 103,600 CNY | 59,380-163,800 CNY |
| Shanghai (city) | City | 106,980 CNY | 106,980 CNY | 55,140-167,100 CNY |
| Jinan | City | 105,940 CNY | 101,120 CNY | 54,280-161,600 CNY |
| Hubei | Region | 104,600 CNY | 111,240 CNY | 46,880-161,600 CNY |
| Shenzhen | City | 104,080 CNY | 106,760 CNY | 49,300-159,500 CNY |
| Yunnan | Region | 103,440 CNY | 107,680 CNY | 51,100-161,300 CNY |
| Xi an | City | 103,140 CNY | 111,920 CNY | 45,580-161,600 CNY |
| Zhejiang | Region | 102,460 CNY | 107,380 CNY | 45,720-159,400 CNY |
| Harbin | City | 102,380 CNY | 98,000 CNY | 53,840-157,600 CNY |
| Suzhou | City | 102,160 CNY | 108,080 CNY | 49,360-161,600 CNY |
| Shenyang | City | 102,020 CNY | 111,460 CNY | 46,980-159,500 CNY |
| Shantou | City | 101,840 CNY | 96,680 CNY | 53,600-152,300 CNY |
| Fujian | Region | 98,820 CNY | 104,500 CNY | 47,180-154,700 CNY |
| Wenzhou | City | 98,440 CNY | 99,280 CNY | 48,160-152,000 CNY |
| Shanxi | Region | 97,460 CNY | 97,460 CNY | 50,080-152,300 CNY |
| Chongqing (region) | Region | 97,060 CNY | 97,300 CNY | 45,580-151,800 CNY |
| Gansu | Region | 96,980 CNY | 88,620 CNY | 52,180-142,300 CNY |
| Qingdao | City | 96,720 CNY | 104,600 CNY | 43,520-152,000 CNY |
| Changchun | City | 96,720 CNY | 96,720 CNY | 48,160-148,300 CNY |
| Shaanxi | Region | 96,540 CNY | 100,280 CNY | 44,540-151,800 CNY |
| Guizhou | Region | 96,540 CNY | 97,880 CNY | 43,800-150,000 CNY |
| Dongguan | City | 95,760 CNY | 89,120 CNY | 48,640-142,300 CNY |
| Dalian | City | 95,760 CNY | 102,020 CNY | 44,800-151,800 CNY |
| Heilongjiang | Region | 94,800 CNY | 89,980 CNY | 48,160-142,300 CNY |
| Tianjin (region) | Region | 91,580 CNY | 97,300 CNY | 43,480-146,200 CNY |
| Jilin | Region | 91,520 CNY | 97,640 CNY | 45,600-146,200 CNY |
| Hainan | Region | 90,660 CNY | 99,560 CNY | 43,480-142,300 CNY |
| Changsha | City | 90,540 CNY | 94,940 CNY | 43,360-143,200 CNY |
| Nei Monggol | Region | 89,960 CNY | 85,440 CNY | 46,880-138,200 CNY |
| Shanghai (region) | Region | 89,800 CNY | 85,020 CNY | 47,540-136,200 CNY |
| Kunming | City | 89,800 CNY | 85,020 CNY | 47,540-136,100 CNY |
| Xizang [Tibet] | Region | 88,620 CNY | 85,440 CNY | 42,960-136,200 CNY |
| Foshan | City | 88,600 CNY | 88,600 CNY | 45,600-139,100 CNY |
| Fuzhou | City | 88,580 CNY | 89,280 CNY | 44,300-136,200 CNY |
| Zhengzhou | City | 87,760 CNY | 87,760 CNY | 45,580-137,400 CNY |
| Xinjiang Uygur | Region | 87,640 CNY | 85,460 CNY | 45,580-136,200 CNY |
| Xiamen | City | 87,520 CNY | 83,640 CNY | 45,560-134,600 CNY |
| Quanzhou | City | 86,800 CNY | 93,880 CNY | 39,420-138,200 CNY |
| Qinghai | Region | 84,740 CNY | 86,420 CNY | 43,480-134,600 CNY |
| Beijing (region) | Region | 84,740 CNY | 85,460 CNY | 45,060-130,400 CNY |
| Wuxi | City | 84,040 CNY | 80,480 CNY | 44,140-129,000 CNY |
| Ningxia | Region | 80,520 CNY | 80,340 CNY | 40,640-127,700 CNY |
Packer in China: FAQs
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How much does a packer make per month in China?
A packer in China earns about 8,146 CNY a month before tax, based on an annual average of 97,760 CNY.
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What's the salary range for a packer in China?
Entry-level packers in China start near 47,760 CNY. Top-end pay reaches around 152,000 CNY. The middle 50% of earners sit between 68,060 and 130,400 CNY.
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Is the median packer salary in China higher or lower than the average?
The median is 99,220 CNY, higher than the average of 97,760 CNY. Half of packers in China earn below the median, half earn above it.
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What's the gender pay gap for packers in China?
Men working as a packer in China earn around 7% more than women on average (102,460 vs 95,860 CNY a year).
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Do packers in China get bonuses?
About 32% of packers in China reported a bonus in the past 12 months. Reported bonuses ranged from 0% to 4% of base salary.
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Do packers earn more in the public or private sector in China?
In China, the public sector pays a packer about 6% more on average. Public-sector pay tends to be steadier; private-sector pay tends to offer bigger upside.
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How often do packers in China get a pay raise?
A packer in China sees a raise of around 9% every 16 months, equivalent to roughly 7% a year.