The National Bureau of Statistics said China reported a 17.8% year-on-year growth in average wage for urban employees in the first quarter of this year.

In the January-March period, urban employees’ pay averaged RMB5,516 ($716), up 17.8% from the same period of last year. That is one amazing leap.

According to the bureau’s sample survey of 59,000 urban households nationwide, urban residents’ per-capita disposable income stood at RMB3,935 ($511) in the first quarter, up 19.5 percent, or 16.6%.

Spending on consumption averaged RMB2,620 ($340) per capita, up 16.7%, or 13.9% in real terms.

It was not just the city dwellers. The cash income of rural dwellers went up 15.2%, or 12.1% in real terms, to RMB1,260 ($164) in the three-month period. Drawing a parallel between this and England in the Industrial Revolution is irresistible. There are, of course, many, many major differences but the inexorable rise in wages is pretty much the same.
Source: China View