How to become a Tally Clerk

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 理货员

Also called: Retail Stock Clerk, Road Freight Tally Clerk, Ship Tally Clerk, Port Tally Clerk

Sorts, picks, assembles, packs and checks goods, handles handovers, and receives, stacks and measures goods.

Main tasks

• Checking each item's type, number of pieces, specification, grade, model and weight
• Picking goods against documents and double checking them
• Checking packaging and markings, packing, assembling, repacking or reinforcing goods for dispatch and filling in packing lists
• Pricing goods, tidying shelves and displaying goods in stores
• Marking the consignee on the outer packaging of outgoing goods
• Grouping outgoing goods by transport method, destination and delivery point, filling in dispatch notes and telling the transport team to collect
• Directing handling and stacking, assessing transport quality and recording damage
• Reading ships' draft marks and sampling, preparing, sending for testing and supervising the loading of solid bulk cargoes that can liquefy
• Handling handovers of goods

Ways in

• University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 105 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Logistics Management and Engineering (1206); majors such as Logistics Management, Logistics Engineering, Procurement Management, Supply Chain Management. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
• Vocational majors: Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Foreign Ship Tallying (700307). Vocational major 700307 Foreign Ship Tallying (外轮理货), 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: Port Tallying.

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥63,600 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥47,800 to CN¥89,000. One in ten earn less than CN¥36,000 and one in ten more than CN¥121,300.
• This is the figure for the mid group Transport, Warehousing, Logistics and Postal Services 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.
• Guangzhou only: median CN¥71,397 a year (2025), middle half CN¥50,025 to CN¥102,688.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group Transport, Warehousing, Logistics and Postal Services Workers holds 6.05% of everyone employed in China; 14.2% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 32.9% are under 35, 58.1% 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.

Related jobs

• Cold Storage Worker
• Warehouse Storeperson
• Logistics Coordinator
• Supply Chain Manager

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Tally Clerk?

Ways in include: Business & Commerce degrees; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Foreign Ship Tallying (700307).

How much does a Tally Clerk earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥63,600 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 Transport, Warehousing, Logistics and Postal Services Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥71,397 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Tally Clerk?

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