Printing Workers

How to become a Printing Machinist

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 印刷操作员

Also called: Offset Printer, Flexographic Printer, Screen Printer, Gravure Printer, Solid Resin Plate Printer, Collotype Printer, Braille Printer, Woodblock Printer, Digital Printer, Metal Printer

Prints text, images and digital content onto paper and other materials with printing presses or other methods.

Main tasks

Mixing inks and solvents and preparing paper, plates and other materials
Adjusting and monitoring feeders and deliveries and setting inking, printing pressure and other press functions
Monitoring and adjusting paper and ink supply, checking print quality and finding and fixing faults
Mounting braille plates, preparing embossing materials and setting up equipment, or choosing and carving woodblocks and mixing colours for woodblock printing
Mixing photosensitive gelatine, baking and hardening plates, exposing plates and mixing ink for collotype printing
Printing finished products with letterpress and other presses and linked finishing systems
Making, transferring and outputting digital print images
Maintaining, adjusting, repairing and cleaning equipment

Ways in

Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Digital Printing Technology (480301). Vocational major 480301 Digital Printing Technology (数字印刷技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Print Media Technology (480302). Vocational major 480302 Print Media Technology (印刷媒体技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Print Media Technology (680301). Vocational major 680301 Print Media Technology (印刷媒体技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥66,400 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥50,400 to CN¥90,500. One in ten earn less than CN¥38,000 and one in ten more than CN¥121,200.
This is the figure for the mid group Printing and Recording Media Reproduction 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¥93,111 a year (2025), middle half CN¥70,760 to CN¥116,827.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Printing and Recording Media Reproduction Workers holds 0.15% of everyone employed in China; 37.2% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
41.6% are under 35, 52.7% are 35 to 54 and 5.7% 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 do I become a Printing Machinist?

Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Digital Printing Technology (480301); Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Print Media Technology (480302).

How much does a Printing Machinist earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥66,400 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 Printing and Recording Media Reproduction Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥93,111 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Printing Machinist?

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