金融英语阅读：China export hub hikes minimum wages by 19%
SHANGHAI, January 21 - China's main export region in the south will raise minimum wages by an average 18.6 percent, marking the second hike in less than a year as soaring food costs hit the country's millions of poor.The increase announced by the Guangdong provincial government this week follows similar moves across the country as Beijing seeks to address the widening wealth gap even as it battles to rein in inflation.
The move will lift the minimum monthly wage in the provincial capital of Guangzhou to 1,300 yuan ($197), up from 1,100 yuan in most parts of the city, the government said on its website Wednesday.
Minimum wages in Guangdong, where thousands of factories and workshops churn out goods for the domestic and overseas markets, went up by 20 percent in May.
China has been raising minimum wages to help boost domestic consumption and relieve pressure on households struggling to keep up with rising food and property prices.
But higher incomes also help fuel inflation, which topped five percent in November for the first time in more than two years.
The consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, slowed to 4.6 percent in December but state media warned Friday that prices could rise by more than six percent at times during the first half.
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