Salt Production Workers

How to become a Rock Salt Brine Worker

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 井矿盐制盐工

Also called: Rock Salt Brine Extraction Worker, Brine Purification Operator, Vacuum Salt Maker

Pumps water into underground salt deposits to dissolve brine out of them, then purifies, evaporates, crystallises and dries it into raw salt.

Main tasks

Checking downhole tools and wellhead equipment
Injecting water into wells with high pressure pumps to dissolve rock salt
Bringing brine up with pumpjacks, submersible brine pumps or water injection
Moving brine and fresh water with pumps and pipelines
Mixing purifying solutions, blending them with raw brine, letting it settle, drawing off the sludge and obtaining purified brine
Evaporating and crystallising with vacuum salt making equipment and discharging salt slurry and mother liquor
Dewatering, thickening and drying salt slurry
Recording production and maintaining equipment

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥81,700 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥53,100 to CN¥125,200. One in ten earn less than CN¥38,100 and one in ten more than CN¥178,000.
This is the figure for the mid group Mining 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.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Mining Workers holds 0.45% of everyone employed in China; 10.2% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
23.1% are under 35, 67.8% are 35 to 54 and 9% 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 much does a Rock Salt Brine Worker earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥81,700 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 Mining Workers.

Will AI change the work of a Rock Salt Brine Worker?

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
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