How to become a Sign Language Interpreter

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 手语翻译

Interprets between sign language and spoken language for deaf and hearing people.

Main tasks

• Listening to speech and signing it for deaf people
• Reading signing and voicing it for hearing people
• Reading signing and putting one sign language into another, so people from different regions or ethnic groups can communicate

Ways in

• University: Arts & Humanities degrees, Offered by 102 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Foreign Languages and Literature (0502); majors such as Business English, English, Translation and Interpreting, German, Russian, Thai. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
• Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Applied English (570202). Vocational major 570202 Applied English (应用英语), 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: Applied Foreign Languages (570208). Vocational major 570208 Applied Foreign Languages (应用外语), 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: Applied Japanese (570206). Vocational major 570206 Applied Japanese (应用日语), 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: Applied Korean (570204). Vocational major 570204 Applied Korean (应用韩语), 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: Applied Russian (570210). Vocational major 570210 Applied Russian (应用俄语), 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: Cross-border E-commerce Multi-platform Operations.; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Business Japanese (570205). Vocational major 570205 Business Japanese (商务日语), 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: Tourism English (570203). Vocational major 570203 Tourism English (旅游英语), 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: Tour Guide Qualification; Study Tour Planning and Management.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Business Arabic (770208). Vocational major 770208 Business Arabic (商务阿拉伯语), 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¥83,000 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥58,000 to CN¥131,000. One in ten earn less than CN¥43,200 and one in ten more than CN¥205,800.
• This is the figure for the mid group News, Publishing and Cultural Professionals, 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¥112,111 a year (2025), middle half CN¥84,316 to CN¥171,450.
• This is the figure for the minor group Translators and Interpreters, not for this job alone.
• Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group News, Publishing and Cultural Professionals holds 0.17% of everyone employed in China; 61.1% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 53.1% are under 35, 42.4% are 35 to 54 and 4.5% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 30 to 34.
• Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Related jobs

• Translator and Interpreter

Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz

Questions people ask

How do I become a Sign Language Interpreter?

Ways in include: Arts & Humanities degrees; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Applied English (570202); Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Applied Foreign Languages (570208).

How much does a Sign Language Interpreter earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥83,000 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 News, Publishing and Cultural Professionals. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥112,111 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Sign Language Interpreter?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, 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