Competition for labor is intensifying in China’s rapidly urbanizing interior.
Chongqing, in southwestern Sichuan province and one of China’s biggest cities, has launched a “Spring Breeze Action” campaign to recruit workers from the coast.
It has raised monthly blue-collar wages to around RMB1,200 (US$183). The wage in Chongqing compares with RMB2,000 in southern China’s manufacturing belt but the cost of living is, at the moment, much lower.
Fuyang, in eastern Anhui province – a quarter of whose 9.5 million residents are migrant workers – has recently added perks such as housing subsidies, TV-equipped dormitory rooms and health insurance.
Sify News reports that in response, authorities in some coastal regions have hiked minimum wages, raising expectations for further pay rises this year.