Women made less than 80 percent of the average male salary in 2018, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Chinese recruiting platform zhipin.com.
According to the report, the average monthly salary of Chinese women was 6,497 yuan ($968), accounting for 78.3 percent of the male average.
The pay gap was especially wide at higher income brackets, a factor that also led to a rising average gender pay gap.
Years of work experience accounted for some of the gender differences.
According to the report, the gender pay gap was at a minimum among entry-level workers. On average, men earn 10 percent more than women when they have less than three years of working experience.
Women tend to hit the glass ceiling for promotion and pay rises in the fifth year of work, where expectations of marriage and childbearing make it increasingly difficult for women to move forward in their careers.
The report showed that men with three to five years of experience were 1.5 percent more likely to get a promotion than women of similar backgrounds.
Men with five to 10 years of experience had 12.1 percent more chances to be promoted, and men with more than 10 years of experience were 8.3 percent more likely to be promoted than their female colleagues, the report said.
The tendency to choose different kinds of work was the major reason for the gender pay gap. Women were more likely than men to choose lower-paid jobs such as administrative office work, the report said.
Efforts still need to be made to break gender stereotypes and narrow the pay gap between men and women, the report said.
