Sports, Fitness and Entertainment Venue Workers

How to become a Lifeguard

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 游泳救生员

Also called: Open Water Lifeguard, Pool Lifeguard

Watches swimmers at swimming venues, keeps them safe, and rescues and gives first aid to people in trouble in the water.

Main tasks

Checking rescue and drowning prevention equipment and removing safety hazards
Watching and judging swimmers' condition and keeping them safe
Entering the water to rescue drowning people
Giving first aid for common swimming injuries
Giving drowning people emergency care such as CPR and rescue breathing before medical staff arrive

Ways in

National qualification: Licence to practise: Fitness and Entertainment Venue Services Personnel (swimming lifeguard, community sports instructor). You need this qualification to work in the job. Listed in the national vocational qualifications catalogue (国家职业资格目录, 2021) as Fitness and Entertainment Venue Services Personnel (swimming lifeguard, community sports instructor) (健身和娱乐场所服务人员（游泳救生员、社会体育指导员）), run by Sports Skills Assessment Bodies. Peernovo links it to this occupation.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥50,000 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥37,700 to CN¥67,700. One in ten earn less than CN¥30,000 and one in ten more than CN¥99,100.
This is the figure for the mid group Health, Sports and Leisure Services 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¥55,103 a year (2025), middle half CN¥53,220 to CN¥65,776.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Health, Sports and Leisure Services Workers holds 0.07% of everyone employed in China; 66.5% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
45.1% are under 35, 46.5% are 35 to 54 and 8.5% 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 Lifeguard earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥50,000 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 Health, Sports and Leisure Services Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥55,103 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Lifeguard?

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