Clinical and Dental Physicians

How to become a Surgeon

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 外科医师

Diagnoses surgical conditions, treats patients with operations or hands on techniques, and helps them recover.

Main tasks

Taking patients' histories and examining them, and writing up medical records and case notes
Arranging or carrying out lab tests, imaging, interventional procedures, exploratory surgery, needle sampling and other tests
Analysing test results to make a diagnosis and deciding whether an operation or organ or tissue transplant is needed
Arranging preparation for surgery, planning operations and leading them as the operating surgeon
Writing prescriptions and giving supporting treatment such as medicines, chemotherapy, blood transfusion and iron replacement
Watching how patients' conditions change after surgery, treating them as needed and keeping records

Ways in

University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 38 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Clinical Medicine (1002); majors such as Clinical Medicine, Anaesthesiology, Medical Imaging, Ophthalmology and Optometry Medicine, Psychiatry, Radiation Medicine. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
National qualification: Licence to practise: Medical Practitioner Qualification. 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 Medical Practitioner Qualification (医生资格), run by National Health Commission. Peernovo links it to this occupation.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥65,600 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥47,400 to CN¥97,300. One in ten earn less than CN¥36,000 and one in ten more than CN¥148,700.
This is the figure for the mid group Health 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¥166,152 a year (2025), middle half CN¥96,000 to CN¥262,149.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Health Professionals holds 1.66% of everyone employed in China; 68.7% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
50.6% are under 35, 42.5% are 35 to 54 and 6.9% 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.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Surgeon?

Ways in include: Medicine & Dentistry degrees.

How much does a Surgeon earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥65,600 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 Health Professionals. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥166,152 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Surgeon?

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