Arts and Crafts and Creative Design Professionals

How to become an Animator and Game Artist

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 动画设计人员

Creates, designs and develops animation, comics and game projects.

Main tasks

Coming up with ideas for animation, comic and game projects and drawing up design plans
Designing storyboards for scripts
Designing scenes, characters and special effects
Setting design and drawing standards for key frames and guiding others to follow them
Designing and making puppet characters and animation and game environments with special requirements
Developing and making animation, comic and game products and merchandise
Making and testing models and samples
Helping set production processes and drawing production drawings

Ways in

University: Creative Arts & Design degrees, Offered by 87 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Design (1305); Drama, Film and Television (1303); majors such as Animation, Digital Media Art, Acting, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Drama, Film and Television Literature. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Animation Production Technology (510215). Vocational major 510215 Animation Production Technology (动漫制作技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Digital Creative Modelling; Animation Production; Game Art Design; Digital Film and Television Visual Effects Production.; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Fine Arts (350107). Vocational major 350107 Fine Arts (美术), 4 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Digital Creative Modelling.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥72,900 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥50,000 to CN¥112,800. One in ten earn less than CN¥37,000 and one in ten more than CN¥172,000.
This is the figure for the mid group Literature, Arts and Sports Professionals, not for this job alone.
National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
Guangzhou only: median CN¥110,628 a year (2025), middle half CN¥84,000 to CN¥137,000.
Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Literature, Arts and Sports Professionals holds 0.18% of everyone employed in China; 42.7% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
65.5% are under 35, 30.4% are 35 to 54 and 4.1% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 30 to 34.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How do I become an Animator and Game Artist?

Ways in include: Creative Arts & Design degrees; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Animation Production Technology (510215); Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Fine Arts (350107).

How much does an Animator and Game Artist earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥72,900 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Literature, Arts and Sports Professionals. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥110,628 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of an Animator and Game Artist?

Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026