China Tells

Beijing will raise its minimum wage by 10% from the current level of 800 yuan per month on April 1, 2010 (See Article from Global Times). Such a move is welcome by workers and low income wage earners. China’s economy has been one of the fastest growing in the world. However, the income of mass population seems to lag behind the economy growth (See graph from Chinatells). Such a disparity in growth is one of the culprits to result in a higher inequality among the citizens (See Graph from Chinatells). An effort to raise the minimum wage could be contributing to neutralize the widening gap. However, there are also downside to the raise of minimum wage. The first one is that China already showed sign of positive price increment. An increase in wage could worsen the potential inflation growth; Second, an increase wage might make export sector less competitive due to increased cost of production.

北京将在4月1日起将目前800元的最低工资收入线提高10%。其他各省市也纷纷讨论加入提高最低工资的时间表。应当说提高最低工资线有助于让普通民众共享经济发展的成果。但是也有省市，如广东省反对这种做法。主要原因是广东省是出口大省，如果工资提高，那么其出口产品的竞争性可能由于其成本提高而受到影响。