Shanghai lawyers with a title of Post Qualification Experience [PQE] salaries are higher than that in Hong Kong, according to legal salary information from Hudson, an international provider of recruitment and management solutions.

The information, which covers top international law firms in Shanghai and Hong Kong, shows that PQE lawyers in Shanghai receive an annual package of Rmb700K-900K, while those in Hong Kong receive HK$660K­-870K.

Cherol Cheuk, legal practice manager of Hudson Recruitment Shanghai, said most of the lawyers who reach this level of annual package in Shanghai are mostly in real estate and mergers and acquisitions [M&A] sectors.

"In China, it represents the most demanding lawyers in the market, which means if you are practiced in general corporate finance, you are not making that money. You have to be in really demanding sector like M&A and real estate for that level of salary," she said.

The high demands in lawyers who specialize in real estate and M&A sectors reflect the fast growth in both industries in the PRC. Moreover, since the international law firms' clients are mostly multi-national enterprises, the chart suggests that foreign investors are mostly interested in the PRC's M&A and real estate industries.

Seth Libby, legal consultant of Chen & Co Law Firm in Shanghai, said that international lawyers in Shanghai tend to be more experienced than those in Hong Kong, so that could be another reason for the salary difference between the two regions, he said.

"Foreign firms tend to be sending people with five to 10 years of experience to Shanghai, so you are almost getting somebody from partners from New York or Hong Kong," he said.

Though the salary level in Hong Kong is generally higher than that in the mainland, the shortage of lawyers in the two practice areas is one of the reasons that led to the salary difference between Shanghai and Hong Kong lawyers, Cheuk said.

However, if the Hong Kong property market continues to boom, the salary of the Hong Kong PQE lawyers in that sector will raise and eventually catch up with the level of Shanghai, Cheuk said.