Industrial Engineering and Management Engineers and Technicians

How to become a Quantity Surveyor

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 工程造价工程技术人员

Calculates, prices, manages and advises on the cost of construction projects.

Main tasks

Forecasting and estimating the full future cost of a building project
Preparing, reviewing and revising cost estimates, budgets, settlements and final accounts for projects
Taking part in project settlement and final accounts on completion

Ways in

University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 105 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Management Science and Engineering (1201); majors such as Construction Cost Engineering, Engineering Management, Management Science, Information Management and Information Systems, Real Estate Development and Management, Confidentiality Management. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Construction Cost Engineering (440501). Vocational major 440501 Construction Cost Engineering (工程造价), 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: Cost Engineer; Digital Applications in Construction Cost Engineering; Building Information Modelling (BIM); Construction Drawing Reading.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Road Engineering Cost Estimation (500205). Vocational major 500205 Road Engineering Cost Estimation (道路工程造价), 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: Digital Applications in Construction Cost Engineering; Building Information Modelling (BIM).; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Building Cost Estimation (640501). Vocational major 640501 Building Cost Estimation (建筑工程造价), 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: Construction Drawing Reading; Building Information Modelling (BIM); Digital Applications in Construction Cost Engineering.; Vocational bachelor (职业本科) major: Smart Forestry Technology (210201). Vocational major 210201 Smart Forestry Technology (智慧林业技术), 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: Forest Firefighter; Environmental Impact Assessment Engineer; Drone Piloting; Surveying and Geographic Information Data Acquisition and Processing.
National qualification: Licence to practise: Cost Engineer. You need this qualification to work in the job. Listed in the national vocational qualifications catalogue (国家职业资格目录, 2021) as Cost Engineer (造价工程师), run by Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development; Ministry of Transport; Ministry of Water Resources; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Peernovo links it to this occupation.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥79,500 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥55,200 to CN¥123,700. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,000 and one in ten more than CN¥192,300.
This is the figure for the mid group Engineering and Technical Personnel, 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¥127,877 a year (2025), middle half CN¥87,535 to CN¥185,340.
Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Engineering and Technical Personnel holds 2.35% of everyone employed in China; 17.1% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
48.9% are under 35, 45.1% are 35 to 54 and 6% 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 Quantity Surveyor?

Ways in include: Business & Commerce degrees; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Construction Cost Engineering (440501); Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Road Engineering Cost Estimation (500205).

How much does a Quantity Surveyor earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥79,500 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 Engineering and Technical Personnel. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥127,877 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Quantity Surveyor?

Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

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
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
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