Pulp and Papermaking Workers

How to become a Pulp Mill Operator

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 制浆工

Also called: Pulp Raw Material Worker, Chemical Pulping Operator, Mechanical and Recycled Pulping Operator

Operates chipping, refining, cooking, washing and bleaching equipment to turn plant fibre into pulp by mechanical or chemical methods, and makes pulp from waste paper.

Main tasks

Debarking and cutting logs with debarkers and saws
Chipping wood, bamboo and other materials with chippers or bamboo cutters and screening the chips
Cutting straw and reeds with cutters, then screening and removing dust
Checking raw materials with metal detectors and removing metal
Refining chips under pressure in refiners to separate fibres into pulp
Soaking wood chips in chemicals and refining them into pulp with disc refiners
Preparing cooking liquor for chemical pulping with special equipment
Feeding chips and cooking liquor into digesters to make chemical pulp
Washing, screening, cleaning, bleaching and thickening pulp with washing and bleaching equipment
Breaking up waste paper and cleaning, deinking, washing and thickening it

Ways in

Vocational majors: Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Modern Papermaking (680102). Vocational major 680102 Modern Papermaking (现代造纸工艺), 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¥60,000 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥48,000 to CN¥80,100. One in ten earn less than CN¥38,800 and one in ten more than CN¥107,500.
This is the figure for the mid group Paper and Paper Products 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¥61,601 a year (2025), middle half CN¥46,000 to CN¥84,740.
This is the figure for the mid group Paper and Paper 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 Paper and Paper Products Workers holds 0.16% of everyone employed in China; 41.9% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
31.6% are under 35, 57.2% are 35 to 54 and 11.2% 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.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Pulp Mill Operator?

Ways in include: Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Modern Papermaking (680102).

How much does a Pulp Mill Operator earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥60,000 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 Paper and Paper Products Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥61,601 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Pulp Mill 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