We are happy to see that wages of employees in China have seen the fastest growth in the past four years since the adoption of the reform and opening policy in the late 1970s, but meanwhile we cannot ignore some problems behind it, says a commentary in Qilu Evening News. An excerpt follows:

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Firstly, the fastest wage rise is based on the fact that the wages of employees have long been kept at a low level. The average yearly salary of employees in China was 12,422 yuan in 2002 and 21,001 yuan in 2006. Though the salary rose 12 percent year on year excluding inflationary factors, the average monthly salary of employees in China is barely over 1,000 yuan. If compared with the robust economic growth, this level of salary is not high.

Secondly, the period of the fastest wage rise is also the time when the income gap is widening. Although the average income and the total sum of income have both seen big increases, even faster than the growth rate of China's GDP of the same term, the income of the majority of employees in China is lower than the average income. That's mainly because high incomes have greatly lifted the average income to a higher level.

Thirdly, the fastest wage rise occurs when the prices of some goods and services rise too fast. Housing prices are shooting up, putting great pressure on ordinary people. Education, medical treatment and public utilities like water, electricity and gas all see large price increases. That's why people feel much more pressure than before even though they earn more.