中国公务员迎来加薪

China's government workers are set to see a pay raise in the new year.According to an announcement, the basic monthly salary for officials will be increased by up to 60 percent, with lower level officials receiving a bigger bump.
 
China has raised the salaries of public employees sharply this year, after being frozen for years and with an increasing number of civil servants quitting their jobs because of low pay.

It is the first time since 2006 that civil servants have received a salary increase.

According to the plan all civil servants, from village level to national level, will get a raise.

The basic monthly salary for national-level officials -- who are the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, including President Xi Jinping, -- will increase from the current 7,020 yuan to 11,385 yuan, a raise of about 60 percent. Salaries for the lowest-level civil servants will increase to 1,320 yuan from the current 630 yuan.

"To increase the salary of civil servants,especially at the local level, is very important. Because, at the local level, a lot of civil servants say their responsibilities are very heavy, but their revenues are relatively low. So it's an imbalance. Motivating civil servants is very important because of social management and their heavy responsibilities," Wei Nanzhi, research fellow of Chinese Academy Of Social Sciences, said.

The basic salary is only one part of a Chinese civil servant's monthly salary. Allowances are also given according to duties and work positions.

Salaries for government workers will now be adjusted every year or every two years. The State Council also released a plan to unify the pension system for both private and government employees.

"We should compare and divide social groups in detail, not just private and public. We should clarify revenues for the public sector, within reason, according to their education background, their professional capacity, and their morality," Wei said.

Experts emphazise that it's necessary to curb excessively high salaries, while increasing pay for grassroots officials. Many say the income for government officials, which comes mainly from public funds, should be transparent and balanced.

The pay raise plan for civil servants has stirred a heated debate. Supporters said wages for civil servants havn’t changed in the past seven years, so it's the time to increase their salaries, while opponents argued that civil servants have already got guaranteed job and steady income. But, it's a shared aspiration by all, that is, to pursue a fair income distribution system which can fully stimulate people's working enthusiasm.