How to become a Pharmaceutical Sales and Purchasing Officer

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 医药商品购销员

Also called: Medicines Sales and Purchasing Officer, Medical Devices Sales and Purchasing Officer, Chinese Herbal Medicine Trader, Prepared Chinese Herbal Medicine Trader, Chinese Medicine Dispenser

Buys, sells and checks medicines, medical devices and other medical goods.

Main tasks

• Researching the market and analysing supply and demand for medical goods
• Negotiating with manufacturers and distributors and requesting and helping check their licences
• Drawing up purchasing plans, signing supply contracts, buying goods and filling in and passing on purchase records
• Managing the buying, selling and storage of goods and serving customers
• Selling medical goods and filling in and passing on sales records, collecting reports of side effects and advising on medicines
• Keeping good relationships with customers and signing sales contracts
• Promoting new products, balancing surpluses and shortages, logging stock shortages and handling returns and exchanges
• Following up contracts and coordinating invoicing, delivery and payment
• Checking in goods, caring for stock and managing expiry dates

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 Medicinal Herb Production and Processing (520414). Vocational major 520414 Chinese Medicinal Herb Production and Processing (中药材生产与加工), 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 Purchasing and Sales.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Medical Device Business and Services (490214). Vocational major 490214 Medical Device Business and Services (医疗器械经营与服务), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Pharmaceutical Business and Management (490208). Vocational major 490208 Pharmaceutical Business and Management (药品经营与管理), 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: Licensed Pharmacist; 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: Medical Device Repair and Sales (690207). Vocational major 690207 Medical Device Repair and Sales (医疗器械维修与营销), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥57,600 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥42,100 to CN¥84,700. One in ten earn less than CN¥33,100 and one in ten more than CN¥131,300.
• This is the figure for the mid group Wholesale and Retail 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¥86,907 a year (2025), middle half CN¥69,000 to CN¥118,828.
• Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group Wholesale and Retail Services Workers holds 14.1% of everyone employed in China; 51.2% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 41.7% are under 35, 49.9% are 35 to 54 and 8.4% 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.

Related jobs

• Agricultural Produce Buyer and Seller
• Publications Distributor
• Tobacco Products Sales Officer

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Pharmaceutical Sales and Purchasing Officer?

Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Chinese Materia Medica (520410); Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Chinese Medicinal Herb Production and Processing (520414).

How much does a Pharmaceutical Sales and Purchasing Officer earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥57,600 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 Wholesale and Retail Services Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥86,907 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Pharmaceutical Sales and Purchasing Officer?

Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, 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