Minimum wages continue to grow at a rapid rate in China.
The continually changing laws governing minimum wages in China must be kept in mind by employers. Employers should be aware of how minimum wage rises impact total labor costs and the subtleties of regional variations in minimum wages.
Shenzhen and Henan raised their minimum salary requirements on January 1 of 2022, while Chongqing, Hunan, Sichuan, and Fujian did so on April 1. Hebei province, however, has declared that it intends to modify its minimum salary rules in 2022 after concluding a current study and calculating process.
In 2018, 15 out of 31 mainland China regions increased minimum wages. 20 of the regions increased minimum wages in 2017. Since 2021, more than 20 provinces in China have raised their minimum wage standard, including Anhui, Beijing, Guangdong, Hainan, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai, Shanxi, Tianjin, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Zhejiang. Beijing has announced that it won’t raise its minimum wage standard in 2022 and Yunnan has chosen to postpone its minimum wage standard adjustment because to the COVID-19 pandemic and the difficult international climate.
Minimum wages in China for 2020 are detailed for many of the major areas below:
What is impacted by the increased minimum wage?
Minimum requirements for other employee perks, such as overtime pay, other allowances, and subsidies, advance in lockstep with the minimum wage.
The overall cost of labor may be impacted by the minimum wage. If the minimum wage catches up to their present wage, businesses that wish to remain competitive may raise employee pay to maintain their competitive advantage over minimum wage workers.
However, rising minimum salaries in China also increase the price of production. The cost of doing business would go up if a company had been paying workers the minimum wage but suddenly had to pay more for the same work. When compared to nations with lower labor costs, China is still frequently determined to be the most affordable choice because of things like:
- Infrastructure
- Transportation costs
- Productivity
- Access to a large domestic market
Minimum salaries in China are one useful metric for comparing various regions of the country when deciding where to inject foreign capital. Investors should also take into account industry-specific salary levels, access to incentives, and the availability of qualified candidates when calculating the true labor cost.
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