Chinese actress Sun Li poses during a photo shoot for a fashion magazine. [Photo/xinhuanet/ent]

On the small screen, actress Sun Li led the race at 87 million yuan ($1.40 million) per episode. Sun's stardom and paycheck skyrocketed after she played the role of Zhen Huan in the TV series The Legend of Zhen Huan in 2012

Actress Yao Di, whose extramarital affair with actor Wen Zhang shocked China's showbiz in 2014, ranked second at 84 million yuan ($1.36 million) per episode. Actress Cecilia Cheung followed at 80 million yuan ($1.29 million).