Chinese officials say minimum wage workers in Beijing will enjoy a 20 percent pay boost beginning Saturday.
The increase, announced by authorities in the Chinese capital this week, is the city's second minimum wage hike this year. As of January 1, workers in the capital must receive a monthly salary of at least 1,160 yuan — equal to about $175.
Cities and provinces across China have been boosting minimum wages in the face of rising inflation and a widening gap in incomes between the rich and poor.
Annual inflation is running at more than 5 percent for the first time in two years, while food prices in November were 12 percent higher than a year earlier.
Authorities have used interest rate hikes and other steps to try to slow the inflation, which historically has been a source of public unrest in China. Officials are also concerned about growing resentment among working class Chinese toward the nation's newly rich business elite.
