Average Salary for Expats in China.

[ABCinChina]

How much are you making in RMB amounts before taxes while working as an expat in China? (I know the salary might vary a lot but just was wondering how much can I expect in the future. Also, if I have the possibility of getting a full USA salary in the future)

Edited January 9, 2009 at 03:16 AM by ABCinChina

[zozzen]

if you cant make an american salary now, it will be more difficult to get it with the same skill sets and experience. many mainland companies, though eager to hire an experienced expat to managerial position, will find it more cost efficient to hire a local for most positions. hong kong citizens are typical there. they used to earn about 10 fold salary than local , many of them still make it, but in the past few years many whined about being fired after their management experience has been absorbed. that is what is happening in china.

when a graduate from many renowned universities only earn 10000+ in china, what makes an employer to pay 30000+ just because an employee is an expat that speaks english?

if there is any reason for this, that will only be the lack of confidence on their local employees. my friend earned 25000+ in a medium size glasses manufacturer. after some experience, her boss refused to trust any local and all upper managerial positions are taken by hongkonger or taiwanese.

that may be good news to expats but these positions are rare for SME, and too competitive for blue chips or ibanks.

[shanghaikai]

Your chance of making a full US salary lies in going back to the US, climbing the chain there, and getting them to ask you to come back to China with an expat compensation package to sweeten the deal. Be sure you're the only one who can accomplish their goals and pretend like coming back would not be something you would want to do but may do if the company really needs you and has the money to buy you out.

[cdn_in_bj]

So the question is how much could an expat make in China with Bachelors degree?

It's not all about the degree, it's more about your working experiences and skills. No one's going to offer your an "expat" salary just because you're a US citizen. Multinationals are here for two reasons - to save money and to get into the local market. If you are after that expat package, then you need to get into some sort of a management position. Are you a fresh grad?

I agree that your best bet is to go back to the US and build up your skills from there. Or you could stick around and again, depending on your work experience, you may luck out and find that expat position on your own. If you don't luck out, well, local salaries are increasing at a fast rate (10-15% annually) so given enough time you'll probably hit that expat target anyways. But by then you'll have to consider something called inflation.

Sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear, but this is the reality.

If you're really curious about what others are making here, you could add a survey to this thread. If there's a way to make it anonymous, then I'm sure some people would be willing to participate.

[gougou]

If you're really curious about what others are making here, you could add a survey to this thread. If there's a way to make it anonymous, then I'm sure some people would be willing to participate.

Question is how much value the numbers still have if you don't know what those people are doing, how many years of experience they have, and so on...

[cdn_in_bj]

Question is how much value the numbers still have if you don't know what those people are doing, how many years of experience they have, and so on...

You're right - it wouldn't be too meaningful. It'll either make him feel better, or worse, without really helping his situation.

听说。。。只是听说

现代由于中国大陆一直宣扬“传统”=“迷信”

很多中国大陆妇女都不相信“坐月子”也没有坚持这一项传统

最后都落下了病根，或者抵抗能力差

虽然是听说，但是我相信一个存在了几千年的东西必然有它存在的道理

还是不要跟自己过不去~

How did this get into my post??

[roddy]

How did this get into my post??

Admin cock-up . Have fixed . . .

[ABCinChina]

Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it. I was just curious to see what the average expat was making in China so I can see whether it would be my best choice to keep working hard where I am at, or to look for a better way since I will be here for a long time. Personally I have 1 year experience in my industry and save quite a lot from my salary even though its less than 1/2 a US salary.

A little background on my situation would be that I graduated last year and came to China for my girlfriend and for the super low cost of living. I did some research online and seems like English teachers usually get less than 10K/month, but expats can range from 5K ~ 50K RMB per month depending on many factors. Do you guys think this is about right?

[cdn_in_bj]

Admin cock-up . Have fixed . . .

Hehe, it's cool...

Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it. I was just curious to see what the average expat was making in China so I can see whether it would be my best choice to keep working hard where I am at, or to look for a better way since I will be here for a long time.

Without knowing more about the specific type of work you do, I can only suggest for you to keep improving your work-related skills as well as your Chinese language skills. You don't want your language skills to be a detriment to your career growth. As you gain experience and hone your skills you should be able to find good opportunities as I think your type of skills will only become more in demand here.

As for going back to the US for a career boost and hoping to land that expat assignment, it could be a few years before your company is ready to send you over. And it's also not a guaranteed thing that you'll be able to find such a job. The fact that you have a girlfriend here, who you obviously are very serious about, makes this a very difficult decision for you I'm sure. It sounds like you have already adjusted well to living here - are you really willing to disrupt all that on a career gamble?

Personally I have 1 year experience in my industry and save quite a lot from my salary even though its less than 1/2 a US salary.

I'm a bit surprised to hear that it's only less than 1/2 of a US salary - I would've expected hardware engineers in the US to make a lot more than that. Anyways, yes you're right you can definitely save a lot here. Though some of that would be offset by the girlfriend I would think.

I did some research online and seems like English teachers usually get less than 10K/month

Sounds about right, though I have heard stories of teachers being able to hit 15k by taking on extra classes as well as private tutoring. This is in first-tier cities mind you.

but expats can range from 5K ~ 50K RMB per month depending on many factors. Do you guys think this is about right?

20k, 50k, 100k... there is always someone making more. In fact, I know locals who easily make over 50k/month. And I'm talking legit salary, not under the table stuff either.

Anyways, I'm not sure how helpful this is but maybe it'll give you something more to think about.

[ABCinChina]

50K+ RMB per month is quite a lot of money to be made in China!! I wonder how much experience is needed for a job like that and what someone could do with all that money?? Personally, I am still in training for PCBs which are quite technical especially when I must learn everything in Chinese. So I guess I should be satisfied with the 10K per month for now.

*I would like to make a poll to see how much expats are making in China. I know many people here are probably managers with much more experience in their field than me so I won't get all sad or anything. So can somebody teach me how to turn this post into a poll? (I'd like to do $0~$10K RMB first option, $10K~$20K RMB second option, etc.)

[imron]

So can somebody teach me how to turn this post into a poll?

Ask an administrator nicely An anonymous poll has now been added. Let me know if you'd like any other options.

[roddy]

I think you can also do it via the 'add a poll' option under the thread tools drop down. Not sure though. It won't be there now though as the poll has been added.

[ABCinChina]

Thanks guys!

[cdn_in_bj]

50K+ RMB per month is quite a lot of money to be made in China!! I wonder how much experience is needed for a job like that and what someone could do with all that money??

Get into a management position in a multinational company, especially in sales. But being in sales here does take a severe toll on ones health, not to mention moral values...

What do they do with "all that money"? They spend it on apartments, cars, 2nd wives, ie - pretty much the same as what wealthy people do in the west.

Personally, I am still in training for PCBs which are quite technical especially when I must learn everything in Chinese. So I guess I should be satisfied with the 10K per month for now.

If you're not in a 1st-tier city you should be living very comfortably then. In any case, you are considered a "high-income earner" by the government.

[anonymoose]

Even if you have a high salary, it doesn't mean you always have to find something to 'do' with it.

I save probably about 80-90% of what I earn here, so that if/when I return to the UK, I can afford to buy a house.

[gougou]

I save probably about 80-90% of what I earn here, so that if/when I return to the UK, I can afford to buy a house

Is it possible to exchange that much now? I seem to remember that a while back, the maximum was 80%, and most people weren't even allowed that, but not sure whether that rule still exists. How were you planning to repatriate your money?

[venture160]

Working here in Beijing some of my colleagues have told me that in the IT Industry (which I work in) local Chinese in management positions at large foreign companies make 100K RMB a month. Of course those are VP level positions, but there are allot of VP's in big companies.

[ABCinChina]

Does anybody know of the true incremental tax rate for working in China? I searched Google here and found that I should be taxed 20% of what I make. However, I get taxed only 6% of what I make. I work for a Taiwan company.

[cdn_in_bj]

Does anybody know of the true incremental tax rate for working in China? I searched Google here and found that I should be taxed 20% of what I make. However, I get taxed only 6% of what I make. I work for a Taiwan company.

China uses a progressive tax scale for tax on salary income, so the 20% only applies to income between 5000 and 20000 - income below 5000 is taxed at a lower rate, so your average tax rate will be lower than 20%. Note that some forms of income are taxed differently and the following only applies to salary income.

In addition, foreigners are exempt from paying tax on the first 4800 RMB of their monthly income. After deducting the 4800 from your income, you are taxed on the remainder according to the following scale:

_Monthly taxable income__Tax rate__Quick Deduction_

______0 <= i < 500________5%__________0________

____500 <= i < 2000______10%_________25________

___2000 <= i < 5000______15%________125________

___5000 <= i < 20000_____20%________375________

__20000 <= i < 40000_____25%_______1375________

__40000 <= i < 60000_____30%_______3375________

__60000 <= i < 80000_____35%_______6375________

__80000 <= i < 100000____40%______10375________

_100000 <= i____________45%______15375________

So, to calculate your tax paid, you do the following:

1) Take your monthly income - 4800, call that 'i'

2) See where 'i' falls in the table above ---> tax payable = i x (tax rate) - (quick deduction)

The "quick deduction" is a shortcut to adjust for the lower tax rates in the lower brackets (it saves you from having to manually calculate the tax for the lower brackets).

For example, if your monthly income is 9500, then your tax would be calculated as follows:

1) i = 9500 - 4800 = 4700

2) From the table above, 4700 falls into the 15% tax bracket (15% is your incremental tax rate):

tax payable = (9500 - 4800) x 15% - 125 = 580

And your average tax rate would be 580/9500 = 6.1%

[ABCinChina]

Cdn, thanks! That method is very precise.