Exclusive: The three major telecom operators are now on par with China National Petroleum Corporation, but the average salary still falls significantly short.

Telecom Operators Financial Network Wu Bihui / Text

Recently, a document regarding post-tax profits paid to state-owned enterprises has sparked reactions among employees of the three major telecom operators, because this document clearly classifies the three telecom giants alongside tobacco companies, oil and petrochemical, power, and telecommunications resource-based enterprises. However, many employees of the telecom operators are complaining, believing that their salaries are not as high as those of power and oil petrochemical employees.

Next, let’s compare.

Take China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) as an example. The group’s average salary per person is actually not on the same level as the three telecom giants; the per capita salary of the three telecom operators still lags significantly behind CNPC.

Data shows that in 2024, among the three telecom operators, China Telecom employees have the highest average annual salary, approximately 354k yuan, with an average monthly salary of about 29k yuan;

China Mobile ranks second, with an average annual salary of about 342k yuan and an average monthly salary of about 28k yuan;

Meanwhile, China Unicom, due to its user scale, has an average annual salary of about 266k yuan, with an average monthly salary of about 22k yuan.

As for CNPC, according to its 2024 annual report, the average salary per person is 490.5k yuan;

By 2025, CNPC’s average salary per person is 511.2k yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.23%.

In other words, CNPC’s per capita annual salary is about 150k yuan higher than the highest among the telecoms, China Telecom, and less than 250k yuan higher than the lowest, China Unicom.

This gap is truly shocking. Under such circumstances, it is indeed a bit stressful that the three telecom giants still extract post-tax profits at the same proportion as oil and petrochemical companies.

Finally, let’s summarize:

2024 Per Capita Salary Overview (based on labor costs)

China Telecom: approximately 354k yuan/year (about 29.5k yuan/month)

China Mobile: approximately 342k yuan/year (about 28.5k yuan/month)

China Unicom: approximately 266k–285k yuan/year (about 22k yuan/month)

Can everyone get such salaries?

(Editor: Wu Bihui)