RMB 50,415

Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau revealed that the average salary in the capital in 2010 was RMB 50,415. The best-paid workers are in the finance industry, with an average annual salary of RMB 192,139, and the tailender is the service sector, with RMB 22,689. The former is 8.5 times the latter. In second and third places are the information/computer/software industry cluster followed by the power/gas/water production and supply enterprise set. Two occupational categories immediately above the service sector are hospitality (boarding/dining) and the farming/forestry/animal husbandry/fishery sector. The 2010 salary average in Beijing increased only 4.1 percent from the 2009 figure of RMB 48,444, but the Municipal Statistics Bureau cautions that growth is not strictly comparable, as the 2010 category has been expanded to include the self-employed.