BEIJING — The average salary of China's urban employees saw robust growth in 2021, with the average in the non-private sector topping 100,000 yuan (about $14,817) for the first time, official data showed on May 20.

The real growth of the average salary for urban employees in the non-private sector, adjusted for inflation, rose by 8.6 percent to 106,837 yuan, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

In the private sector, the annual average salary stood at 62,884 yuan, up 7.8 percent year-on-year after price factors were deducted.

"The salary level and the growth of the information transmission, software and information technology services sector have remained at a high level in recent years, in step with the development of informatization," according to bureau official Wang Pingping.

Robust online consumption demand boosted by the COVID-19 helped push the wage rise in related information industries, Wang said.

In 2021, non-private and private urban employees engaged in the information transmission, software and information technology services sector saw an average salary growth of 13.5 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.

Last year also saw financial businesses warm after being hit hard by the pandemic in 2020. Non-private urban employees in the capital market services sector saw their average salary surge by 21.2 percent year-on-year in 2021.

Data shows that the average wage of urban employees in the contact-based services sector resumed growth from a relatively low base in 2020, with the average wage in the non-private accommodation and catering sector increasing 9.8 percent and its private counterpart rising 10.8 percent year-on-year.