Most Chinese Provinces Lifted Minimum Wages in 2025: SCMP

Most of China’s provincial governments have raised their minimum wage payments to workers, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

A total of 27 of the 31 mainland provinces boosted their minimum wages over the past year, it said, noting that some of the rises were in double-digit figures and their calculations based on Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security data released this month.

The move to lift workers’ pay levels is part of efforts to boost spending and part of Beijing’s vow to “invest in people,” given repeated criticism of the government’s focus on exports and dismal domestic consumption.

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The recipients of this local government largesse are generally basic workers in factories, or people in low-paying roles such as guards and cleaners.

But payment levels vary as provinces set their own minimum wage levels.

Deflation and slowing growth has become a bigger problem for China in recent years, but analysts believe the government has begun to recognise the need to bolster consumption – as urged by the IMF late last year – via local incomes.

The report said data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday “showed that China’s per capita disposable income had reached 43,377 yuan (US$6,229) in 2025, up 5% year-on-year.

“Per capita income from wages alone rose 5.3% year on year, to 24,555 yuan,” it said, “accounting for 56.6% of household disposable income – a slight increase from 56.5% in 2024.”

Citizens in the commercial capital Shanghai had the highest average annual per capita disposable income), followed by Beijing (over 89,000 yuan), following by Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Tianjin, Guangdong and Fujian. The other 24 provinces had annual per capita disposable incomes of less than 50,000 yuan.