A Guide to Minimum Wages in China in 2023
As of July 14, 2023, Shanghai has the highest monthly minimum wage among 31 provinces (RMB 2,690/US$370 per month), and Beijing has the highest hourly minimum wage (RMB 26.4/US$3.7 per hour). 15 regions – Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Guangdong (including Shenzhen), Chongqing, Sichuan, and Shaanxi – have surpassed the RMB 2,000 (US$275) mark in their monthly minimum wage standards.To get more shanghai china international news, you can visit citynewsservice.cn official website.
At the lower end of the wage spectrum, Guangxi’s minimum wage level (RMB 1,430/US$197 per month) is slightly higher than that in Liaoning (RMB 1,420/US$195 per month).
In 2022, Shenzhen and Henan raised their minimum wage standards from January 1, while Chongqing, Hunan, Sichuan, and Fujian raised their minimum wage standards from April 1. Yunnan raised its minimum wage standards on October 1.
In 2023, Hebei and Shanxi provinces’ new minimum wage standards took effect on January 1. Qinghai and Guizhou raised their minimum wage standards on February 1, 2023. Anhui’s new minimum wage standard took effect on March 1, 2023. Shaanxi’s new minimum wage standard took effect on May 1, 2023. Shanghai’s new minimum wage standard took effect on July 1, 2023. And Beijing’s new minimum wage standards will take effect on September 1, 2023.
What is the minimum wage in China?
According to China’s Provisions on Minimum Wage, the legal minimum wage refers to the minimum labor remunerations that shall be paid by the employers to the employees under the precondition that the employee has provided normal labor within the promissory working hours or within the working hours that is prescribed in the labor contracts.
The minimum wage standards are determined by provincial governments by taking into consideration factors, such as the minimum living costs of local employees and their dependents, the urban residents’ consumption price index, the social insurance premiums, and the housing funds paid by the employees themselves, the average salary of the employees, the level of local economic development, the local employment status, etc.
In general, the minimum wage standards appear in two forms, namely the monthly minimum wage standard and the hourly minimum wage standard. The monthly minimum wage standard applies to full-time employees while the hourly minimum wage standard applies to non-fulltime employees, such as part-time and temporary employees.
To be noted, the minimum wage is just the basic wage that employers must pay their employees, which excludes overtime pay, night shift allowance, summer high-temperature allowance, the special working environment allowance, and subsidies for meals, transportation, and housing.
Nevertheless, China’s minimum wage standards do include the social insurance premiums and housing fund contributions paid by employees in most regions. In fact, it is possible that the employee’s take-home pay is lower than the corresponding minimum wage standard in these regions. Only a few regions, such as Shanghai, clearly stipulate in their local rules that their local minimum wage standards exclude social insurance premiums and housing fund contributions.
Local governments in China are generally required to update their minimum wages every few years but have the flexibility to adjust wages according to local conditions.
Most provinces set different classes of minimum wage levels for different areas depending on the given region’s level of development and cost of living. For example, a higher minimum wage class is established for the provincial capital and the most developed cities in the province, whereas smaller cities and rural areas fall under a lower wage class.
