国内英语新闻:China's wage proportion decreases for 22 years

"Low pay, long working hours and poor working conditions caused conflicts and even mass incidents between labor and management to occur more frequently in recent years, which has already become a major factor affecting current social stability," Zhang said.

On July 24 last year, 3,000 steel workers protested when they were threatened with job cuts following the takeover of their company, the Tonghua Iron and Steel Group, by a private firm in Jilin province. The workers later beat company executive Chen Guojun to death.

A number of strikes staged by taxi drivers citing harsh working conditions and low pay have also been reported in the last two years in many cities and provinces, including Chongqing municipality as well as Hainan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces.

Similarly, in the first quarter of this year, seven provinces and municipalities including Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai increased their minimum-wage standards by 10 percent to 17 percent, while another 20 provinces plan to adjust their minimum-wage level this year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said.