Condiment and Food Additive Workers

How to become a Citric Acid Production Operator

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 柠檬酸制造工

Also called: Citric Acid Raw Material Grinder, Citric Acid Culture Worker, Citric Acid Fermentation Worker, Citric Acid Extraction Worker, Citric Acid Filling and Packing Worker

Operates raw material, fermentation, extraction and drying equipment to produce citric acid from starch, molasses or glucose by microbial fermentation.

Main tasks

Growing the microbial cultures used to ferment citric acid
Grinding raw materials with milling equipment and liquefying and saccharifying them
Disinfecting and sterilising material and preparing mash with fermenters, mixing tanks, plate heat exchangers, steam jets and other equipment
Controlling growing conditions for microbes in fermenters to complete fermentation
Separating fermentation broth into clear liquid with filtering and neutralising equipment and preheating it to make calcium citrate
Heating, filtering and washing material with acid hydrolysis reactors, filters and other equipment to get clear hydrolysed liquid
Removing ionic impurities with ion exchange columns to get citric acid liquid
Crystallising citric acid with multiple effect evaporators, crystallisers, centrifuges and other equipment
Operating equipment to dry, sieve and pack wet crystals
Disinfecting and sterilising fermentation materials and process equipment
Monitoring fermentation and the quality of part finished and finished products online

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥59,000 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥44,400 to CN¥78,800. One in ten earn less than CN¥34,700 and one in ten more than CN¥104,900.
This is the figure for the mid group Food and Beverage Production Workers, 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¥77,607 a year (2025), middle half CN¥58,500 to CN¥97,946.
This is the figure for the mid group Food and Beverage Production Workers, not for this job alone.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Food and Beverage Production Workers holds 0.44% of everyone employed in China; 47.4% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
36.1% are under 35, 52.9% are 35 to 54 and 11% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 40 to 44.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How much does a Citric Acid Production Operator earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥59,000 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 Food and Beverage Production Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥77,607 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Citric Acid Production Operator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, 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