Hardware Products Makers and Assemblers

How to become a Gold Leaf Maker

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 金箔制作工

Turns gold into extremely thin gold leaf with rolling, beating, cutting and other equipment and tools.

Main tasks

Working out alloy proportions and checking they are correct
Melting gold and other metals together in high temperature equipment and cooling them
Rolling and beating gold bars into ribbon with rolling, beating and other equipment
Cutting the ribbon into small squares with cutting tools
Heating packets of gold beater's paper (wujin zhi) in constant temperature equipment to drive off moisture
Placing the gold squares in the centre of each packet
Beating the gold packets with beating machines and similar equipment
Moving the beaten gold into the finishing packet of gold beater's paper with traditional tools
Keeping the finishing packets at constant temperature and dry with constant temperature equipment
Beating the finishing packets again and again with gold beater's paper and beating equipment to produce gold leaf
Lifting the gold leaf out of the packets with goose feathers and other tools and laying it on special paper
Cutting gold leaf into finished sheets with knives, leather cushions and a light breath to position it

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥68,400 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥53,500 to CN¥86,000. One in ten earn less than CN¥41,200 and one in ten more than CN¥107,900.
This is the figure for the mid group Metal Products 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¥72,400 a year (2025), middle half CN¥61,084 to CN¥87,850.
This is the figure for the minor group Hardware Products Makers and Assemblers, 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 Metal Products Manufacturing Workers holds 0.72% of everyone employed in China; 29.9% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
36.3% are under 35, 55.4% are 35 to 54 and 8.3% 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 much does a Gold Leaf Maker earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥68,400 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 Metal Products Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥72,400 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Gold Leaf Maker?

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