Becoming a certificated counselor for pay and tax administration has become a popular emerging career choice in China, according to authorities and industry insiders in Jing’an District, where training for the profession is now covered by a governmental subsiding program.

“The new career combines the services of human resources management and tax accounting, which is increasingly demanded by enterprises and middle- and high-net-worth people,” said Zhang Cheng, CEO of Shanghai Finance & Talent Services Co. The group provides services ranging from financial education, human resources services and tax consulting.

He said the services can help enterprises make decision on issues including recruitment, pay, tax and even development of the whole enterprises.

“For example, it can provide preferences for enterprises on deciding the pay level for a position and how to optimize administration schemes for taxes of enterprises and employees,” he said.

According to Zhang, the profession was officially recognized in China in February last year, and since then, more than 35,000 people around the country have received training for it and about 20,000 have received certificates in primary, middle and high levels, including 6,000 some in Shanghai.

“As we estimate, there is a demand for more than 100,000 such talented people around the country in the near future,” he said.

Ma Rui, a counselor from Deloitte, added: “The new profession is trendy work. I got a middle-level certificate last year and many of my colleagues are trying to sit the exam to get the certificate now.”

According to Tang Hong, vice director of the Jing’an District’s human resources and social security bureau, the new profession is one of the careers included in the district’s annual subsiding program for professional training, along with other emerging professions such as social organization managers and cloud architects.

“We hope our subsides can help cultivate more new talent to meet new needs from the market,” he said.