The highest monthly starting salary offered to Chinese graduates went to R&D-related positions, according to a starting-salary report recently issued by Zhaopin.com, one of China's leading HR service providers.

The report, based on a survey of more than 3.3 million college graduates, analyzes the general situation of starting salaries of the graduates with different degrees from 18 industries in 24 cities between 2008 and 2011.

Also read: Top 10 cities for highest starting salaries

                  Top 10 industries for highest starting salaries

Graduates engaged in research and development enjoy the highest starting salary, an average of more than 3,500 yuan (US$ 552), followed by senior managerial personnel with more than 3,000 yuan (US$ 473). In contrast, those working on manufacturing-related positions have lower starting salaries.

About 23 percent of new recruits for R&D positions are offered a lower starting salary of between 1,000 and 2000. The majority of them, about 40 percent, receive 3,000 to 5,000 yuan ((US$ 473-US$ 1,374) each month. For those on senior management positions, about 9 percent of them receive a high salary of more than 8,000 yuan (US$ 1,262), the highest proportion as compared to other positions.

Following are the top ten positions paying the highest starting salary to new graduates in China:

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