Economists

How to become a Cooperative Development Specialist

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 合作经济专业人员

Plans, builds, guides and manages cooperatives and similar organisations.

Main tasks

Drawing up development plans for cooperatives and leading their activities
Providing information, technical, legal and policy services
Guiding standardised production and developing high quality, safe and healthy products
Guiding cooperatives in providing services to their members and community
Guiding investment and financial management
Guiding cooperation between different cooperatives

Ways in

University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 105 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Economics (0201); Agricultural Economics and Management (1203); majors such as Agricultural and Forestry Economic Management, Economics, Economic Statistics, Rural Regional Development, National Economic Management, Resource and Environmental Economics. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Management of New Rural Economic Organisations (410120). Vocational major 410120 Management of New Rural Economic Organisations (农村新型经济组织管理), 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: Agricultural Economic Organisation Management; Agricultural Products E-commerce Operations.
National qualification: National professional qualification: Economics Professional and Technical Qualification. A national qualification that shows your level; it is not required to work. Listed in the national vocational qualifications catalogue (国家职业资格目录, 2021) as Economics Professional and Technical Qualification (经济专业技术资格), run by Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Peernovo links it to this occupation.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥80,100 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥55,300 to CN¥127,700. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,000 and one in ten more than CN¥202,900.
This is the figure for the mid group Economic and Financial 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¥132,525 a year (2025), middle half CN¥73,801 to CN¥198,672.
This is the figure for the minor group Economists, not for this job alone.
Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Economic and Financial Professionals holds 2.2% of everyone employed in China; 71% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
50.4% are under 35, 45.7% are 35 to 54 and 3.9% 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 a Cooperative Development Specialist?

Ways in include: Business & Commerce degrees; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Management of New Rural Economic Organisations (410120).

How much does a Cooperative Development Specialist earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥80,100 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 Economic and Financial Professionals. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥132,525 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Cooperative Development Specialist?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, 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