In China, the local artificial intelligence industry, which is currently on a trajectory of active growth, became the leader of the salary rating in the Asian country in the second quarter of 2024, shifting the financial sector from the position of leader.

The mentioned result is largely due to Beijing’s desire for technological sovereignty. The corresponding position is advantageous and, to a certain extent, vital for almost any state. Against the background of growing tensions in the space of geopolitical relations, technological sovereignty is what can be described as a condition for development. Beijing has already faced the practical consequences of this tendency. The United States and some of its allies have restricted shipments to China of advanced chips and equipment needed to produce the appropriate microcircuits.

Also, the experience of the coronavirus pandemic has testified that all sorts of extreme and extraordinary circumstances on a global scale can cause a malfunction in the international production supply chain, which means significant disruptions or even a shutdown of the manufacturing process. From this point of view, the importance of technological sovereignty is also significant.

Beijing is striving for self-sufficiency in technology. China also intends to benefit from the so-called artificial intelligence boom, which is the tendency that is implemented on a global scale. Specialists in the local AI industry receive salaries that exceed those in banking, foundations, and other organizations. Also, from the point of view of the mentioned indicator, the artificial intelligence area has bypassed brokerages, which traditionally offered the highest-paying jobs.

Data from the online recruitment platform Zhilian Zhaopin indicate that against the background of highly intensive growth in demand for the development and testing of machine intelligence apps, the average monthly salary in the corresponding sphere activity reached 13,594 yuan ($1,868). This indicator is 5.3% higher than the figure for the same period last year.

Investment activity in general, including financial injections into funds, securities, and futures positions, turned out to be in the second position in terms of earnings received by participants in the relevant process, after the top spot in the first quarter of the current year and for many other periods.

The changes in the artificial intelligence industry and the financial services sector are a reflection of China’s changing national priorities. It is also logical that against the background of the specified tendency, changes are taking place in the Asian country’s labor market. It is worth noting that recently Chinese financial sector employees have faced such negative realities as massive salary cuts and even retractions of bonus payments. In sphere technologies, the situation is more optimistic. Those who are looking for a job are showing more and more interest in the mentioned sphere of operation, which demonstrates active development.

Beijing is devoting significant resources to developing and strengthening its technological capabilities. As part of the relevant actions, such a mechanism as raising capital from the financial sector is used, among other things. It’s worth noting that currently the Chinese economic system, which is the second largest in the world, is trying to modernize manufacturing. At the same time, as part of the relevant efforts, Beijing must evade various kinds of trade and technological barriers from Western countries.

As above mentioned, new employees in the Chinese artificial intelligence industry in the second quarter of the current year topped the paid chart. In this case, the average monthly salary is 13,594 yuan. In the financial institutions of the Asian country, the corresponding figure ranges from 12,178 to 13,169 yuan. The average income for all new jobs in China in the second quarter was 10,313 yuan.

The average monthly salary of artificial intelligence engineers in the Asian country is more than 22,000 yuan. Among the microcircuits engineers, this figure is at around 21,124 yuan.

Zhilian Zhaopin notes that the artificial intelligence industry is a new technological direction that is being hotly contested all over the world. Also in this context, it was underlined that the mentioned industry has the potential to spawn new business models and revenue streams. Zhilian Zhaopin stated that numerous companies operating in the artificial intelligence area compete for high-caliber talent with high salaries on offer. In this context, it is noted that the recruitment of personnel in the specified promising sector is characterized by high technology, high education, high experience threshold, and high wages. The pay level for engineers and technical specialists in the area of algorithmization, the C programming language, embedded software development, and machine visualization is especially high.

Zhilian Zhaopin also notes that the heyday of large payments to Chinese bankers and financial executives, seemly, to be coming to an end. Salary cuts are currently a trend characteristic of both state-owned and investment banks. At the same time, the Zhilian Zhaopin report notes that the financial sector still offers competitive wages. For the mentioned report, more than 1,000 companies in 38 cities of the Asian country were interviewed.

In a quarterly survey by Zhilian Zhaopin, artificial intelligence was for the first time categorized separately. In the past, AI has been lumped in with the technology sector and the semiconductor industry.

As we have reported earlier, China Leads Generative AI Patents Race.