The average salary in Shenzhen rose 7.9 percent in 2006 from the previous year, and ranked fourth-highest in China, following Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, said the 2006 China Salary Report.

The report also predicted that the rate of salary growth will keep increasing in the next two years, hitting 8.2 and 8.3 percent in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

The report was compiled by Taihe Consulting, a market survey company that owns the country's largest payment database. It conducted a survey covering more than 100 industries, including the property, finance, pharmaceuticals, as well as technology and service sectors, and collected 130,000 responses.

Sales managers in all industries and banking business managers were the highest paid, with the average annual income surpassing 330,000 yuan (US$42,308), the report said.

The salaries of people in securities and fund industries didn't change much, but the salaries of the insurance and banking industry workers have increased, thus raising the payment level of the whole finance industry.

Due to the nation's macro-control over the real estate industry, salaries in this industry have grown less compared to the previous years. Employees of high-tech companies earned less than finance and real estate workers on average.

According to the survey, the average salary rise reached 8.5 percent in South China, with the rise in the finance, real estate and consumer goods industries in the area amounting to around 25 percent.

The salary disparity between rank-and-file employees and executives in high-tech companies was wider. While executives enjoyed an obvious salary rise, fresh college graduates and those with only one or two years' work experience saw a salary drop of as much as 37 percent.

Taihe Consulting predicted that the salary difference between junior and senior posts in South China will continue to grow in 2007.

Editor: Yan