Shangahai will raise the minimum wage for full-time employees to 750 yuan (US$94) per month, or 6.5 yuan per hour, from the current 690 yuan starting next month, Youth Daily reported today.

This marks the 14th time the city has adjusted its minimum wage since it was introduced in 1993.

Starting next month, the minimum wage for workers who serve the public, such as assistants for neighborhood or city management, will also rise.

Urban residents get at least 320 yuan per month as their basic cost of living allowance starting this month, up 20 yuan from the previous amount, while rural residents, starting from last month, receive at least 2,560 yuan per year.

The Chinese government established a minimum wage system in 1993, in which the country's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities were required to implement.

The minimum wage for Chinese citizens will be US$1,300 per month in 2050, according to a report issued by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The report also said China will become a medium-level developed country by then.

(Shanghai Daily August 7, 2006)