What Are Some Major Occupations in China?
Employment in China is evenly divided between industry, services and agriculture, with a slight emphasis on services. China’s government is the country’s largest employer.
Major sectors of Chinese government employment are the People’s Liberation Army, the railway network, the State Grid Corporation and the National Petroleum Corporation. Each of these employs millions of workers.
Other major state-owned employers in the country are the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Mobile Limited, China Life Insurance, the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Telecom, Baosteel, Agricultural Bank of China and China Ocean Shipping. These companies employ tens to hundreds of thousands of people.
China’s largest private employer is Hon Hai Precision Industry, with about 1.2 million workers. The company operates a number of factories, including the Foxconn factory used by Apple. Some other major private employers in China are steelmaker Jiangsu Shagang Group, consumer appliance group Suning Appliance, Legend Holdings Ltd., car manufacturer BYD, Guangsha Holding Venture Capital Co. Ltd., and the New Hope Group. Some foreign restaurant chains that have a significant presence in China include McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, A&W and Pizza Hut. Private employment is estimated to account for about one in five jobs in China.
