How to become a Plastics Moulding Operator

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 塑料制品成型制作工

Also called: PVC Compounder, Plastics Extrusion Operator, Plastics Injection Moulding and Calendering Operator, Plastics Compression Moulder, Plastics Laminator, Plastics Sintering Operator, Plastics Casting Operator, Vacuum Forming Operator, Plastics Heat Sealer, Plastics Weaver, Plastics Welder

Prepares plastic raw materials and shapes them into profiles or plastic products with all kinds of plastics machinery.

Main tasks

• Mixing and kneading plastic resins and additives
• Compounding, plasticising and pelletising
• Measuring the colour of plastic samples
• Producing pipe, sheet and strip with extruders
• Producing industrial parts and household goods with injection moulding machines
• Producing film and artificial leather with calenders and laminates with presses
• Producing foam plastic products
• Pressing preforms and sintering them to make PTFE and similar products
• Pouring material into heated moulds to cast fittings or profiles
• Blow moulding plastic into containers with blow moulding machines
• Welding plastic pipe and sheet into products

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥63,400 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥48,600 to CN¥81,800. One in ten earn less than CN¥38,800 and one in ten more than CN¥102,000.
• This is the figure for the mid group Rubber and Plastic 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¥63,592 a year (2025), middle half CN¥56,925 to CN¥85,081.
• This is the figure for the minor group Plastic Products 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 Rubber and Plastic Products Manufacturing Workers holds 0.44% of everyone employed in China; 41.7% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 33.3% are under 35, 57% are 35 to 54 and 9.8% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 40 to 44.
• Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

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Questions people ask

How much does a Plastics Moulding Operator earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥63,400 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 Rubber and Plastic Products Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥63,592 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Plastics Moulding 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