BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Wage increases in a number of the country's labor-intensive industries will be good for employment in the long term, a senior official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has said.
"For low-level enterprises developing extensively, such as those that involve earning only a few cents from making shoes or toys, it doesn't matter if they move out of China because of wage hikes," Yu Faming, director of employment promotion department in the ministry, was quoted by the Beijing News on Wednesday.
Yu's comments followed speculation that global consumer product manufacturers may consider moving their factories to nearby countries such as Vietnam, India and Indonesia, where wages are comparatively lower, as China faces rising wages.
On June 6, Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group announced a second salary rise that would increase pay by up to 65 percent for workers at its factories in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.
Earlier, Japan automobile giant Honda offered a 24 percent pay hike to its auto parts workers in Foshan, Guangdong, to bring an unprecedented strike to an end.
