How to become a Pharmaceutical Production Operator

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 药物制剂工

Also called: Tablet Operator, Injection Operator, Liquid Medicine Operator, Capsule Operator, Aerosol Operator, Dripping Pill Operator, Ointment Operator, Suppository Operator, Film Dosage Operator, Patch Operator, Pharmaceutical and Medical Products Sterilisation Operator, Chinese Medicinal Wine, (Tincture) Operator, Chinese Medicinal Distillate Operator, Chinese Medicinal Oil Operator, Chinese Medicinal Syrup Operator, Chinese Medicinal Mixture Operator, Chinese Medicinal Pill Operator, Chinese Medicinal Powder, (Grinding and Blending) Operator, Chinese Medicinal Paste Operator, Medicinal Plaster Operator, Chinese Medicinal Tea Operator, Chinese Medicinal Gelatine and Moxibustion Preparation Operator, Chinese Medicine Extraction Operator, Granule Operator

Uses formulation equipment and tools to turn drug substances and excipients into tablets, injections, capsules and other medicines.

Main tasks

• Preparing for and confirming readiness before production
• Measuring and preparing raw materials and excipients
• Producing solid, semi solid and liquid dosage forms with forming, portioning and filling equipment
• Washing and drying packaging and tools that touch the medicine directly, and sterilising them and intermediate products
• Making pharmaceutical water that meets pharmacopoeia standards
• Producing clean air and disinfecting the environment, equipment and tools
• Checking liquid products for foreign particles with light inspection equipment or by eye
• Portioning, packing and scanning finished products
• Dealing with equipment faults and maintaining equipment
• Cleaning the production area and filling in records

Ways in

• Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Chinese Materia Medica (520410). Vocational major 520410 Chinese Materia Medica (中药学), 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: Licensed Pharmacist; Pharmaceutical Formulation Production; Pharmaceutical Purchasing and Sales.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (520415). Vocational major 520415 Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (中药制药), 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: Licensed Pharmacist; Pharmaceutical Formulation Production.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Pharmaceutical Biotechnology (470102). Vocational major 470102 Pharmaceutical Biotechnology (药品生物技术), 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: Pharmaceutical Formulation Production.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Pharmaceutical Formulation Technology (490203). Vocational major 490203 Pharmaceutical Formulation Technology (药物制剂技术), 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: Licensed Pharmacist; Pharmaceutical Formulation Production; Pharmaceutical Purchasing and Sales.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Chinese Materia Medica (720403). Vocational major 720403 Chinese Materia Medica (中药), 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: Pharmaceutical Formulation Production; Pharmaceutical Purchasing and Sales.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (720407). Vocational major 720407 Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (中药制药), 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: Pharmaceutical Formulation Production.; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (320401). Vocational major 320401 Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (中药制药Ḥ), 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: Licensed Pharmacist; Pharmaceutical Formulation Production.

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥60,400 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥45,500 to CN¥81,000. One in ten earn less than CN¥36,000 and one in ten more than CN¥110,900.
• This is the figure for the mid group Pharmaceutical 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¥89,399 a year (2025), middle half CN¥61,843 to CN¥115,729.
• This is the figure for the mid group Pharmaceutical 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 Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Workers holds 0.11% of everyone employed in China; 47.4% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 43.3% are under 35, 50.2% are 35 to 54 and 6.5% 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.

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Pharmaceutical Production Operator?

Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Chinese Materia Medica (520410); Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Chinese Medicine Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (520415).

How much does a Pharmaceutical Production Operator earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥60,400 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 Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥89,399 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Pharmaceutical Production Operator?

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