How to become a Silviculture Engineer
Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 森林培育工程技术人员
Guides and manages the breeding, raising and growing of trees for timber, shelter belts, cash crops, firewood and special uses.
Main tasks
- Drawing up plans for breeding improved varieties and raising strong seedlings
- Breeding new tree varieties with biotechnology and guiding large scale seedling production in greenhouses
- Developing better growing methods for major timber trees, cash crop trees and bamboo, and setting tending and management practices
- Planning and designing seed collection and storage, seedling raising, planting and tending, and setting planting methods, young stand tending and thinning
- Developing and promoting large scale seedling production and new planting and greening techniques, and setting inspection standards for planting and tending projects
- Guiding and managing planting and tending work
- Monitoring and assessing the benefits of planting and tending
- Setting technical specifications for designing, carrying out and supervising forest planting
Ways in
- University: Agriculture & Environment degrees, Offered by 83 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Forestry (0905); majors such as Economic Forestry, Forestry, Landscape Gardening, Forest Protection, Smart Forestry. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
- University: Engineering degrees, Offered by 105 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Forestry Engineering (0824); majors such as Forest Engineering, Wood Science and Engineering, Forest Products Chemical Engineering, Furniture Design and Engineering, Timber Architecture and Materials. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
- Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Economic Forest Cultivation and Utilisation (410205). Vocational major 410205 Economic Forest Cultivation and Utilisation (经济林培育与利用), 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¥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¥96,320 a year (2025), middle half CN¥71,956 to CN¥112,228.
- This is the figure for the minor group Forestry and Grassland Engineers and Technicians, 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 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.
Related jobs
- Desertification Control Engineer
- Horticultural and Landscape Planting Engineer
- Wildlife Conservation Engineer
- Nature Reserve Engineer
- Forest Protection Engineer
- Wood, Bamboo and Natural Fibre Processing Engineer
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Silviculture Engineer?
Ways in include: Agriculture & Environment degrees; Engineering degrees; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Economic Forest Cultivation and Utilisation (410205).
How much does a Silviculture Engineer 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¥96,320 a year (2025).
Will AI change the work of a Silviculture Engineer?
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
- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation, National Bureau of Statistics: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China, 2022 edition (public consultation draft) (2022 public consultation draft (1,636 occupations; final edition 1,639)), 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
