Social Workers

How to become a Counsellor

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 心理咨询师

Uses counselling techniques and methods to help clients understand, assess and ease psychological problems.

Main tasks

Talking with clients to understand their mental state
Analysing what clients share and guiding them to find the causes and thoughts behind their problems
Choosing where to start and how to counsel, and guiding clients to work through their problems
Assessing clients with psychological tests and explaining the results
Suggesting ways to solve problems that suit each client's personality
Researching and improving methods of psychological assessment and counselling
Referring clients with serious psychological problems for professional treatment

Ways in

University: Psychology degrees, Offered by 33 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Psychology (0711); majors such as Psychology, Applied Psychology. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Psychological Counselling (520804). Vocational major 520804 Psychological Counselling (心理咨询), 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: Social Psychological Services.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥84,000 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥55,000 to CN¥156,100. One in ten earn less than CN¥36,900 and one in ten more than CN¥246,000.
This is the figure for the mid group Supervisory, Legal, Social and Religious 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.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Supervisory, Legal, Social and Religious Professionals holds 0.24% of everyone employed in China; 48.2% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
43% are under 35, 48.1% are 35 to 54 and 8.9% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 35 to 39.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Counsellor?

Ways in include: Psychology degrees; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Psychological Counselling (520804).

How much does a Counsellor earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥84,000 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 Supervisory, Legal, Social and Religious Professionals.

Will AI change the work of a Counsellor?

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
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