A survey has found that 70.8 percent of Chinese employees earned 800 to 2,500 yuan (96.74 to 302.3 US dollars) monthly.

The survey was conducted by an institute under the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRCSC).

The DRCSC survey covered 1,883 enterprises sampled across the country in the past 12 months.

Of all the firms surveyed, 27.4 percent or the largest group paid 1,200 to 1,800 yuan a month, 23.8 percent paid 800 to 1,200 yuan, and 19.6 percent paid 1,800 to 2,500 yuan.

And 4.7 percent of the surveyed paid less than 800 yuan monthly while 0.2 percent paid more than 8,000 yuan.

People in east China were richer than in central and west China.The report showed that 67.3 percent of the enterprises in east China had an average monthly salary of 800 to 2,500 yuan, while 64.2 percent in central China and 66 percent in west China paid averagely 800 to 1,800 yuan a month to their employees.

Of the surveyed enterprises in west China, 6.5 percent paid their employees a monthly income of less than 800 yuan. The percentage of this income group in west China was higher than in other parts of the country.

Firms with foreign investment or investment from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan accounted for the most employees earning more than 5,000 yuan a month, compared with state-owned enterprises, joint stock companies and private companies.

People working in the banking and insurance industries earned the most among all industries surveyed. Some 67.3 percent of the firms in this sector had a monthly salary over 2,500 yuan and their percentage of employees earning more than 8,000 yuan a monthwas also the highest.

The mining industry was the lowest paid. Of all mining enterprises surveyed, 62.5 percent had a monthly salary of 800 to 1,200 yuan.

Source: Xinhua