Finance is the cash cow in Xiamen city, according to a report by the PXC, a Beijing-headquartered consultancy.

The company surveyed more than 1,700 enterprises in Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and Fujian over the past year. 194 of them were based in Xiamen.

Xiamen's salary levels lead Fujian province, followed by Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Sanming, Ningde, Putian, Longyan and Nanping, the report said.

The top three most profitable careers are finance, real estate and software/internet, with maximum annual salaries for managers reaching 619,500 yuan ($99,776), 482,200 yuan and 453,400 yuan, respectively.

Entry level salaries in these three industries averaged 56,200 yuan, 53,200 yuan and 56,800 yuan, respectively, significantly than those in other industries.

Xiamen had a critical shortage of frontline workers in 2014, resulting in an average salary hike of 15 percent.

A general worker earns 2,400 to 3,450 yuan per month, and a skilled worker can pocket 5,650 yuan at most.

Respective starting salaries for junior college graduates, college graduates and postgraduates were 2,600 yuan, 3,300 yuan and 4,200 yuan per month in Xiamen last year. There will be a modest increase of about 100 yuan this year.