Wang Bo, an independent massage provider, gives a massage to a client. Previously the manager of a massage parlor in Shandong province, Wang quit his job and became an independent massage provider in Beijing, taking orders through apps. Photo: Visual China

(Beijing) — Massage providers led a list of the highest-paid service jobs at nearly 18,000 yuan ($2,600) per month in China’s first-tier cities, according to a recent report.

In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, gym trainers earned the second-highest monthly income at over 15,000 yuan, followed by nannies for newborns and auto mechanics, said 58.com Inc., an online marketplace, last week.

“I think the growth of the service sector has to do with changing consumer behavior,” said Zhang Hongbin, owner of Thai massage parlor Orchid Massage & Spa, where 90% of the customers are younger than 30. “Unlike their parents, young people today are more willing to pay more to improve their life quality.”

Premier Li Keqiang has made the development of service industries one of the main priorities of China’s industrial restructuring plan as it shifts from traditional manufacturing, especially as the economy slows. The proportion of the service sector included in total gross domestic product (GDP) rose 6 percentage points between 2011 and 2015, while manufacturing fell 5.5 percentage points during the same period.

A growing middle class with disposable income has made the economic transformation possible, analysts said. In 2015, the service industry for the first time accounted for more than half of the economy, rising to 50.5% from 48.1% the year before.

Expanding service industries have drawn both migrant workers from less-developed regions and even foreign workers to look for better-paying jobs in China’s biggest cities.

“I don’t know much about other industries, but what my Thai employees earn is definitely more than what they can get in Thailand,” Zhang said.

The package courier industry, where the majority of employees are migrant workers, was one of the best-paid sectors, fueled by the country’s booming e-commerce business, 58.com said.

The average monthly income for delivery people was above 7,000 yuan, according to 58.com. But when there are big online shopping festivals, salaries can easily pass 10,000 yuan, said a delivery worker for S.F. Express, the country’s largest private courier company, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the company does not allow employees to speak to the media without authorization.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the e-commerce juggernaut, said its gross merchandise volume, the total value of all goods sold over its e-commerce platforms, reached 120.7 billion yuan on Singles Day, which started out as a celebration of singledom on Nov. 11 before morphing into a shopping festival.

“But many people only notice couriers, food deliverymen and newborn caregivers earning more than 10,000 yuan a month, not knowing how much hardship they’ve experienced,” Liu Kan, a senior manager at 58.com, said in a statement.

An example is the S.F. Express delivery worker, whose normal working day is 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. “I leave home when the sky is dark and go home also when the sky is dark,” he said.

Contact reporter Chen Na (nachen@caixin.com); editor Calum Gordon (calum@caixin.com)