(Yicai Global) Aug. 26 -- Some 70.4 percent of those employed in Internet and Related Services are younger than 35 years old, Yicai Global has learned from data compiled during the Seventh Population Census. Most young people are based in high-paying sectors such as internet, sports, entertainment and scientific research.

Almost a third of China’s working population is aged under 35 years old as of Nov. 1, 2020, according to a book on census data which was published in June.

Yet just over 49 percent of those employed in the financial sector and more than half of those employed in the Culture, Sports and Entertainment field and Scientific Research and Technical Services are aged under 35.

These are also the highest-paying sectors. Those working in Software and Information Technology Services earn an average income of CNY200,000 (USD29,172) a year, nearly double the average wage, the census data showed. Employees in Scientific Research and Technical Services Industry and the financial sector take home CNY150,000 a year on average, 1.4 times the average salary.

Age is a factor especially in the internet sector, which is known for its high-intensity work loads and fast technical iterations. Some internet giants are focused on seizing young user groups and want to lower the average age of their staff.

"NetEase went public on the Nasdaq when I was 29 years old,” William Ding, founder of the internet giant, said to investors in 2020. “At that time, we had 221 employees. Today, our headcount has swollen almost a hundred-fold to over 20,000, while the average age of our employees has remained under 29."

There are much fewer young people working in the sectors of Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry, Fishing as well as Water Conservancy, Environment and Public Facilities Management, Mining and Constructions, with the number of employees aged below 35 ranging between 13.6 percent and 27.8 percent of total staff.

Overall, jobs in these categories are laborious while the incomes are not high, Ding Changfa, an associate professor at Xiamen University’s School of Economics, told Yicai Global. So, they are less attractive to young people.

A lot of young rural workers flocked to cities due to urbanization, said Zhou Jintai, a researcher of the rural economy research institute under the Hubei Academy of Social Sciences. There are not many youth engaged in agriculture in the countryside although some study fruit and vegetable cultivation and animal husbandry at college and return to the villages with quite modern ideas on planting and large-scale breeding.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Kim Taylor