SHENZHEN will raise the minimum wage by 15 percent to 1,500 yuan (US$234) from January 2012, according to Wang Min, head of the Shenzhen Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

This will be the first time for the city to adjust the minimum salary in January. It is usually done in July.

“We will advance the adjustment to January because we hope to attract migrant workers. There is a labor shortage each year after the Spring Festival. Shenzhen needs to compete with other cities and Shenzhen companies need time to organize their annual payrolls,” Wang said at the closing ceremony of the technical skill competition festival at Shenzhen Technicians College.

The minimum wage adjustment plan has been handed to the city government for approval. The minimum wage does not include overtime or subsidies for night work and work in high and low temperatures, hazardous or special conditions. Employers failing to pay the minimum wage will face penalties of 30,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan.

The minimum wage in Shenzhen is now 1,320 yuan and the hourly rate for part-time employees is 11.7 yuan, the highest of major Chinese cities.

Shenzhen implemented the highest wage rise of the past 19 years in April last year by increasing the minimum wage from 1,100 yuan to 1,320 yuan.

The salary rise was aimed at making jobs in Shenzhen more attractive to solve a labor shortage facing cities in China’s manufacturing belt.

The minimum wage in Shanghai was 1,280 yuan last year. Guangzhou raised the minimum wage by 18.2 percent to 1,300 yuan last year.

(Han Ximin)