Wire, Cable, Optical Fibre and Electrical Materials Workers

How to become a Wire and Cable Maker

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 电线电缆制造工

Also called: Enamelled Winding Wire Maker, Copper and Aluminium Rod Maker, Wire and Cable Drawer, Wire and Cable Plater, Wire and Cable Strander, Wire and Cable Plastic Extruder, Wire and Cable Rubber Extruder, Wire and Cable Wrapper, Wire and Cable Crosslinker, Cable Metal Sheath Maker, Wire and Cable Metal Conductor Extruder

Runs specialist equipment to process aluminium, copper and other metal conductors and cover the conductors or cores with outer layers to make wire, cable or winding wire.

Main tasks

Melting, casting, rolling and cooling copper, aluminium and other metals into rod with upcasting, continuous casting and rolling or dip forming equipment
Drawing copper and aluminium rod into wire and annealing it, or pulling fibre and resin composites into rods that need curing, with drawing equipment
Extruding plastic or rubber over conductors as insulation, or over cable cores and metal layers as sheathing, by hot pressing or physical foaming, and crosslinking it into thermoset insulation or sheathing where needed, with extrusion and crosslinking equipment
Stranding, bunching and laying up conductors or insulated cores with stranding, bunching and cabling machines
Continuously coating flat or round wire with insulating enamel and baking it to make enamelled wire on enamelling machines
Transposing enamelled conductors, wrapping insulation and welding broken ends with transposed conductor equipment
Extruding aluminium or other metals over steel wire to make bimetallic conductors with cladding equipment such as aluminium clad steel lines, and extruding copper and aluminium into shaped cable conductors
Plating metal conductors with pickling, hot dip, chemical or electroplating equipment
Wrapping tape or wire covering onto cable cores with tape cutting, braiding, paper wrapping, lapping and armouring machines
Crosslinking insulation or sheathing by firing a high energy electron beam at it from an electron accelerator
Covering cable cores with sealed metal sheaths of lead, aluminium, copper or stainless steel by metal extrusion, argon arc welding or longitudinal wrapping
Testing the electrical, mechanical, physical, chemical and fire performance of raw materials and part made products with test equipment and instruments
Maintaining equipment and tooling and fixing faults

Ways in

Vocational majors: Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Electric Machine and Appliance Manufacturing and Repair (660203). Vocational major 660203 Electric Machine and Appliance Manufacturing and Repair (电机电器制造与维修), 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: Intelligent Power Distribution Integration and Maintenance; Substation and Distribution Operation and Maintenance; Power Cable Installation and Maintenance.

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥64,700 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥51,200 to CN¥82,200. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,000 and one in ten more than CN¥103,200.
This is the figure for the mid group Electrical Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing 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¥84,672 a year (2025), middle half CN¥79,559 to CN¥98,414.
This is the figure for the minor group Wire, Cable, Optical Fibre and Electrical Materials Workers, 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 Electrical Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Workers holds 0.37% of everyone employed in China; 40.3% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
48.6% are under 35, 46.6% are 35 to 54 and 4.8% 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.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Wire and Cable Maker?

Ways in include: Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Electric Machine and Appliance Manufacturing and Repair (660203).

How much does a Wire and Cable Maker earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥64,700 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 Electrical Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥84,672 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Wire and Cable Maker?

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