How to become an Embroiderer and Drawn Thread Worker
Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 抽纱刺绣工
Also called: Machine Embroiderer, Hand Embroiderer, Drawn Thread and Lace Worker
Embroiders patterns and lace on fabric with sewing and embroidery machines, or makes household textile crafts by hand drawn thread work, embroidery and lacework.
Main tasks
- Printing machine embroidery designs onto fabric
- Loading embroidery programs designed on computer into automatic embroidery machines
- Running sewing and embroidery machines to embroider fabric
- Filling in missed stitches with sewing machines
- Trimming loose threads and cutting edges
- Tracing hand embroidery designs onto fabric, drawing outlines and marking colours and stitch directions
- Stretching fabric on embroidery frames, choosing needles and threads and marking starting points
- Embroidering by hand with hooking, picking and stabbing techniques and blended colour stitches
- Tracing drawn thread designs onto base cloth, drawing out warp or weft threads in the pattern and linking them into openwork
- Tracing designs onto base cloth and embroidering and appliqueing by hand
- Tracing designs onto backing paper, making lace by hand on the paper, removing the paper and joining the pieces
- Dry cleaning and pressing fabric, embroidery and lace and checking quality by eye
Ways in
- Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Embroidery Design and Craft (550125). Vocational major 550125 Embroidery Design and Craft (刺绣设计与工艺), 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 Design of Cultural and Creative Products.
Pay · AI and this job
- Median pay in China: CN¥57,400 a year (2025).
- Middle half: CN¥45,300 to CN¥71,900. One in ten earn less than CN¥36,300 and one in ten more than CN¥87,900.
- This is the figure for the mid group Stationery, Crafts, Sports and Entertainment Goods Manufacturing 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¥60,000 a year (2025), middle half CN¥46,237 to CN¥80,320.
- This is the figure for the mid group Stationery, Crafts, Sports and Entertainment Goods Manufacturing 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 Stationery, Crafts, Sports and Entertainment Goods Manufacturing Workers holds 0.41% of everyone employed in China; 56.8% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
- 34.2% are under 35, 53.1% are 35 to 54 and 12.7% 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.
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
How do I become an Embroiderer and Drawn Thread Worker?
Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Embroidery Design and Craft (550125).
How much does an Embroiderer and Drawn Thread Worker earn in China?
Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥57,400 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 Stationery, Crafts, Sports and Entertainment Goods Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥60,000 a year (2025).
Will AI change the work of an Embroiderer and Drawn Thread Worker?
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