Shanghai Hikes Its Minimum Wage

Workers in Shanghai are about to get another raise. The government of China’s richest city announced on Feb. 28 that effective Apr. 1 the monthly minimum wage in Shanghai will go up 13 percent to 1,450 yuan ($230).

Shanghai workers aren’t the only ones enjoying an increase in take-home pay. In China, minimum wages are set city by city and province by province. For instance, the same day the city’s government unveiled its plan to lift salaries, the official Xinhua News Agency reported the northeastern province of Shandong would be raising its minimum wage, too. The provincial government is mandating an increase in the monthly wage by as much as 19 percent, Xinhua said, with full-time workers in the most developed parts of Shandong entitled to make a minimum of 1240 yuan ($197). And Shandong workers can expect more raises to come, with the government planning annual wage increases “of at least 13 percent in the years to 2015.” This month workers getting the minimum wage in Shenzhen, adjacent to Hong Kong, got a 13.6 percent raise. Foxconn Technology Group, a big Shenzhen employer that makes iPhones, iPads, and other products for Apple, in February gave pay increases ranging from 16 percent to 25 percent.