Average wages in China’s manufacturing sector have soared above those in countries such as Brazil and Mexico and are fast catching up with Greece and Portugal after a decade of breakneck growth that has seen Chinese pay packets treble.
Across China’s labour force as a whole, hourly incomes now exceed those in every major Latin American state apart from Chile, and are at around 70 per cent of the level in weaker eurozone countries, according to data from Euromonitor International, a research group.
The figures indicate the progress China has made in improving the living standards of its 1.4bn people, with some analysts arguing that increases in productivity could push manufacturing wages even further beyond what are traditionally seen as middle-income countries. But the fast-rising wage levels mean China could also start to lose jobs to other developing countries willing to undercut it.