How to become a Food Technologist

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 食品工程技术人员

Develops food ingredients, industrially made food products, processing methods and specialised equipment, manages production and gives production guidance.

Main tasks

• Researching and analysing food raw materials from farming, forestry, livestock and fishing and developing new food sources
• Researching and designing food processing methods and factory layouts and giving technical guidance
• Researching and designing machinery for processing, packaging, storing and transporting food and guiding its use
• Researching and applying technology for storing and transporting food
• Researching and developing novel foods from natural resources
• Supervising and managing processing and analysing and solving technical problems in production
• Setting and revising product standards and testing methods, analysing food nutrition and testing product quality

Ways in

• University: Science degrees, Offered by 99 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Food Science and Engineering (0827); majors such as Food Science and Engineering, Food Quality and Safety, Grain Engineering, Dairy Engineering, Brewing Engineering, Viticulture and Enology. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
• Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Health Food Quality and Management (490216). Vocational major 490216 Health Food Quality and Management (保健食品质量与管理), 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: Food Compliance Management; Food Inspection Management.; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Food Engineering Technology (290101). Vocational major 290101 Food Engineering Technology (食品工程技术), 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: Grain and Agricultural Food Safety Assessment; Food Inspection Management; Food Compliance Management.

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥79,500 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥55,200 to CN¥123,700. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,000 and one in ten more than CN¥192,300.
• This is the figure for the mid group Engineering and Technical Personnel, 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¥94,700 a year (2025), middle half CN¥71,066 to CN¥115,100.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group Engineering and Technical Personnel holds 2.35% of everyone employed in China; 17.1% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 48.9% are under 35, 45.1% are 35 to 54 and 6% 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.

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Food Technologist?

Ways in include: Science degrees; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Health Food Quality and Management (490216); Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Food Engineering Technology (290101).

How much does a Food Technologist earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥79,500 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 Engineering and Technical Personnel. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥94,700 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Food Technologist?

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