Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen top in high-income earners

Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen are the three Chinese mainland cities with the highest proportion of high-income earners, according to a newly released survey.

In Shanghai, 35.09 percent of respondents earn a monthly salary of more than 10,000 yuan ($1,490), followed by Beijing and Shenzhen, where 35.07 percent and 26.91 percent, respectively, earn the same amount, the survey said.

The survey was published jointly by Tencent's wealth management platform Licaitong, Tencent Financial Technology Think Tank and Penguin Intelligence on Tuesday.

Nanjing and Hangzhou rank fourth and fifth, with 19.37 percent and 18.60 percent, respectively, of respondents earning 10,000 yuan per month, while Guangzhou comes sixth with 14.74 percent.

Internet, real estate and finance are the three industries that offer the highest wages, the survey said.

Lower-income earners, those making 5,000 to 8,000 yuan per month take up the majority, with 28.59 percent in Shanghai, 24.32 percent in Beijing, 29.57 percent in Shenzhen, 29 percent in Guangzhou and 33.68 percent in Hangzhou falling in the category.

The survey also shows that work experience does not play a vital role in determining one's wage level. Of the respondents with more than 10 years' experience, only 22.44 percent earn more than 10,000 yuan per month.

More than 60 percent of respondents say their wages have not met their expectations and over 70 percent say they are planning to change jobs because of that.

Meanwhile, due to lack of financial knowledge and planning, people's ability to manage their money is relatively low.

According to the report, more than half of respondents spend less than 20 percent of their salary on wealth management.